New York further relaxes nursing home visitation guidelines

Mar. 18—It has been a long haul for nursing home residents and their families over the last three years of the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced them to navigate visitation guidelines that slowly shifted along with fluctuating case counts.

Now, the New York State Health Department has issued new guidance to reflect where things stand at this stage of the pandemic.

In guidance issued to nursing home operators and local health departments on Friday, the Health Department said nursing homes are no longer required to verify that visitors have a negative Covid-19 test before entry or conduct active Covid-19 screening. That means New York is aligning its nursing home screening and visitor testing guidelines with the federal standards issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

"Enabling families to visit their loved ones safely remains a priority for the Department of Health," Acting State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said in a statement. "Our new guidance aligns with CMS guidance and recommends that facilities use passive screening, which includes providing visitor and staff education on Covid-19 signs and symptoms, and post instructional signage throughout the facility."

The Health Department also recommends that facilities continue other practices, such as the use of a face covering or mask, having specified entries, exits and routes to designated areas as well as encouraging hand hygiene. At their discretion, nursing homes also may choose to continue visitor testing or active screening, the latter referring to requiring a visitor to complete a symptom-screening questionnaire, do an in-person interview and/or have their temperature taken.

Further, the Health Department encourages facilities in counties with high levels of community transmission to offer testing to visitors.

Based on current weekly metrics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers Erie County to have a medium Covid-19 community level, which recommends wearing a high-quality mask or respiratory in indoor public places if you're someone at high risk of getting very sick from the virus.

In the eight counties of Western New York, five of them — Erie, Niagara, Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming counties — are at the medium level, while Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany counties are in the low Covid-19 community level, CDC data show.

Facilities that decide to continue visitor testing can continue requesting testing kits in the monthly Health Electronic Response Data System (HERDS) survey, the state said. The kits will then be distributed from the state stockpile while supplies last.

"Improving the quality of life for aging New Yorkers includes making sure they have visits from family and friends," said Adam Herbst, the Health Department's deputy commissioner for aging and long-term care. "For those who call these facilities home, this new guidance supports our effort to make visitation more accommodating, while keeping residents and staff safe."

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