Nursing Homes Should Be Among Last To Reopen CMS Says As It Urges ‘Extreme Caution’
The Trump administration's guidelines urge state and local officials to refrain from allowing virtually all visitors into nursing homes or other senior care facilities until several conditions are met, including that all residents and staff test negative for the coronavirus for at least 28 days. Other news on nursing homes in Canada, Louisiana, California and Nevada is reported.
The Associated Press:
Feds Urge 'Extreme Caution' For Reopening Nursing Homes
Federal authorities are urging governors to use “extreme caution” in deciding when to resume visits at nursing homes, saying it shouldn’t come before all residents and staff have tested negative for the coronavirus for at least 28 days. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ criteria for relaxing restrictions at nursing homes come more than two months after the agency ordered homes to ban visitors. Instead of firm dates, it lists a variety of factors state and local officials should consider, such as adequate staffing levels at homes and the ability to regularly test all residents and workers. (Choi, 5/18)
The Washington Post:
Trump Administration Charts A Slow Path For Reopening Nursing Homes
The guidelines urge state and local officials to refrain from allowing virtually all visitors into nursing homes or other senior care facilities until several conditions are met. They include making sure a nursing home has no new cases of covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, for four weeks. In addition, such facilities must ensure that they have enough protective gear and access to coronavirus tests, and that nearby hospitals have sufficient space in intensive care units and other wards in the event cases spike again. The guidance also says the amount of virus is circulating in the community should be taking into account. (Goldstein, Cenziper and Sacchetti, 5/18)
Modern Healthcare:
CMS: Nursing Homes 'Should Be Among The Last To Reopen'
CMS' recommendations are part of the Trump administration's broader framework for reopening the country. Under the so-called "Opening Up America Again" plan, state and local officials are primarily responsible for deciding when and how to lift stay-at-home orders. The administration and its supporters have defended the plan, arguing that governors and local officials are better equipped to decide when to reopen because they're closer to the situation on the ground. But critics say the Trump administration is trying to abdicate its responsibilities, pushing the burden onto state and local governments that are under tremendous financial pressure and short on resources. According to the administration's critics, the federal government should coordinate reopening among the states because the pandemic cuts across borders. (Brady, 5/18)
The Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Offers Guide For Reopening Nursing Homes
The recommendations from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, like a previous draft version reported by The Wall Street Journal, call for a multiphase regimen, mirroring the three-phase “Opening Up America Again” guidelines for states that were issued by the Trump administration in April. The earlier draft drew concern from industry officials who felt it was too vague and included no specific requirements for coronavirus testing. The final version says a facility should have a testing plan in place before beginning reopening phases. The document suggests that the plan involve initial testing of all residents and staff, and it offers other testing recommendations as a facility moves through various stages of reopening. (Wilde Mathews, 5/18)
The Hill:
Trump Administration Advises 'Extreme Caution' In Reopening Nursing Homes
According to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of publicly reported data, nursing homes and other assisted-living facilities account for 41 percent of COVID-19 deaths in the country. The figures vary by state, with some as high as 80 percent of deaths, but not every state is reporting. A new administration rule that took effect on Sunday requires nursing homes to report to CMS their numbers of coronavirus infections and deaths, as well as staff shortages and access to personal protective equipment (PPE). The information will be made available to the public at the end of May. (Weixel, 5/18)
Stat:
As Covid-19 Lockdowns Lift, Uncertainty At Nursing Homes Only Deepens
It was late April when a Covid-19 outbreak was reported at the Seven Hills Health and Rehab Center, a nursing home just south of Cleveland. And when Mehdi Saghafi, an 89-year-old resident, was tested for the disease, the result came back positive. He was immediately transferred to a separate unit and is being kept in isolation there for 21 days, even longer than the two-week isolation period recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But his family worries Saghafi feels abandoned — and fears for his psychological health on top of any physical conditions he could develop. (Zia, 5/19)
The Washington Post:
Canada's Nursing Home Crisis: Coronavirus Killing In Long-Term Care
It was not how Mary Witkowski pictured celebrating her birthday. But with visits to her nursing home suspended to keep the novel coronavirus out, she turned 90 on April 13 without family, in the room at the Camilla Care Community that she shared with three others. That week, Witkowski tested positive for covid-19. On April 27, doctors told her family her body was “starting” to shut down. The next day, she died — the latest victim of one of the hundreds of outbreaks that have blazed through Canada’s long-term care facilities. (Coletta, 5/18)
New Orleans Times-Picayune:
Released For 1st Time: See Full List Of Nursing Homes In Louisiana With Coronavirus
The state of Louisiana on Monday released the name of all adult nursing homes that have reported at least one case of the new coronavirus. See the list here. The release is the first time in more than six weeks that the state has confirmed which facilities have cases. Since April 1, the state has released only aggregate numbers of infections and deaths in senior complexes, and the total number of facilities with known cases. (Roberts III, 5/18)
KQED:
Health Officials Expect More COVID-19 Outbreaks In Nursing Homes
Health officials are concerned that as California and the Bay Area begin to loosen shelter-at-home rules, there could be a rising number of COVID-19 outbreaks at nursing homes and assisted living facilities. These long-term care homes have become ground zero in the coronavirus crisis: state data show more than 1,400 people have died of COVID-19 in facilities licensed by the California Department of Public Health and the California Department of Social Services. And state public health officials acknowledge that those totals are likely an undercount. (Peterson, 5/18)
Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Nursing Homes In Nevada Report New Coronavirus Cases, Deaths
Nevada’s nursing homes, prisons and other state-licensed facilities reported 64 new cases of the novel coronavirus over the weekend, according to data published Monday by the Department of Health and Human services. Three more residents of the facilities also died, and an additional 83 recoveries were reported. (Davidson, 5/18)
