NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Nursing homes may resume limited visitations, the New York State Department of Health announced Friday.
Here are the guidelines:
The visits may take place at facilities that have been without COVID-19 for at least 28 days, a threshold set by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Residents will be allowed two visitors at a time.
Visitors must undergo temperature checks, wear face coverings and socially distance during the visit.
At least one of the two visitors must be at least 18 years of age or older.
For each facility, only 10 percent of the residents can be allowed visitors at any time: for example, in a 100-bed facility, no more than 10 residents can have visitors per day in order to maintain proper social distancing and ensure safe compliance.
Nursing Homes accepting visitors will be required to send their visitation plan to NYSDOH and affirmatively attest that they are following the guidance outlined here.
State Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said in a statement, "With the knowledge we now have about how COVID-19 came into nursing homes – mainly through asymptomatic staff and visitors through no fault of their own – it is critical that as we resume visitations to these facilities we do it in a smart and cautious way to ensure the health and safety of residents and staff."
He added, "We will continue to closely monitor the situation in each facility, and make adjustments based on the facts and data moving forward. I know how painful it has been for residents of these facilities to endure such a long period of time without seeing family and loved ones, and my hope is that this adjustment to the visitation policy will provide some comfort to everyone."
