SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Starting Thursday, visitation will be allowed at nursing homes that have not had COVID-19 for 14 days, New York State Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker announced Tuesday.
This decision revises the previous guidelines, which allowed visitation only at nursing homes that had not had a COVID-19 case for 28 days.
“The number of nursing homes that have taken the necessary steps to protect residents from the asymptomatic spread of COVID-19 while working to reopen to outside visitors, shows that adhering to the [Department of Health] visitation guidelines the smart and cautious approach to allowing visitations,” Zucker said in a statement. “We continue to be guided by science and concern for residents’ welfare and will monitor nursing homes that host visitors, to make sure this action does not lead to an increase in cases.”
The updated guidelines will enable about 500 of the state’s 613 nursing homes to allow visitation once again, according to the New York State Department of Health.
There have been 72 confirmed COVID-19 deaths at nursing homes in Onondaga County since the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to data released by the New York State Department of Health.
Reopening still presents challenges for nursing homes. Bishop Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Syracuse has 25 confirmed COVID-19 deaths as of Sept. 15, according to the Department of Health’s statistics. Bishop is using phone, Skype and Facetime visits as an alternative to in-person visits. The Cottages at Garden Grove have one confirmed COVID-19 death and are reporting no cases amongst residents, according to their website. However, their website reports active cases amongst the staff.
Under New York’s new rules, those interested in visiting a nursing home must present a negative COVID-19 test from the past seven days, and must pass screening questions, a temperature test and wear personal protective equipment.
