Families with loved ones in nursing home facilities will soon access information on COVID-19 and other disease outbreaks under a bipartisan transparency bill Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law last month.

Early on in the pandemic, families with loved ones in assisted living centers felt kept in the dark about what was going on inside. Starting September 1, long-term facilities and nursing homes will have to provide updated numbers on the spread of diseases in their facilities.

While the new law is a step in the right direction, Brian Lee, director at Families for Better Care, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating awareness of nursing home conditions, says he knows for some families, it’s too late.

For months during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission refused to share information on facilities with COVID-19 cases until Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton intervened.