The Alabama Nursing Home Association (ANHA) has announced a plan to resume in-person visits after Governor Kay Ivey announced a revision to the state health order on Wednesday morning that made them possible.
Visits to nursing homes had been prevented since March in an effort to prevent coronavirus transmission among the population most vulnerable to the disease. The revision only allows a single visitor at a time, beginning Friday, October 2.
Brandon Farmer, president of ANHA, said in a statement that he was “pleased” about the resumption of visits and believes that it is “important for nursing home residents and their family members to be able to visit in person.”
“The public must continue to do its part to lower the spread of COVID-19. Decreasing community spread and consistent testing are key to our ability to offer indoor visits,” added Farmer.
Relevant figures in both the public and private sector had long been hesitant to relax restrictions that pertain to senior citizens. Per BamaTracker, of the 2,390 coronavirus deaths in Alabama for which age has been recorded, 77% were 65 or older.
The ANHA cited both the governor’s new order and fresh guidance from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in their plan to resume visits.
“Resident safety is our top priority as we expand visitation and the CMS guidelines will be closely followed,” remarked Farmer.
According to CMS rules, nursing homes cannot have experienced a new COVID-19 case in the last two weeks if they wish to allow visitors. Additionally, any nursing home in a county where the share of coronavirus tests coming back positive exceeds 10% may not permit visits.
Visitors allowed in must wear masks at all times, per the guidance, and facilities must monitor and regulate the total number of nonresidents indoors at any given time. Temperature screenings and health checks are to be conducted on all visitors entering a facility.
Guidelines from CMS cited by the ANHA say that in addition to the rules established “we encourage facilities in medium and high-positivity counties to test visitors, if feasible. Facilities may also encourage visitors to be tested on their own prior to coming to the facility (e.g. within 2-3 days) with proof of negative test results and date of the test.”
The ANHA warns that “visitors who do not comply with the infection prevention requirements will not be allowed to visit.”
Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: [email protected] or on Twitter @HenryThornton95
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