NCDHHS: Indoor visitation now allowed at nursing homes

RALEIGH, NC (WWAY) — On Monday, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services updated its guidelines for nursing homes to allow indoor visitation.

“We have focused on protecting the health of nursing home residents since the start of this crisis. Our progress in testing, infection control and slowing the spread of COVID-19 in our communities allows us to move forward with safe indoor visitation in accordance with federal guidance,” NCDHHS Secretary Mandy K. Cohen, M.D. said.

Indoor visitation will only be permitted in nursing homes with no COVID-19 cases in the last 14 days and in counties with a percent positive testing rate of less than 10%, reflecting guidance from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Facilities allowing in-person visitation will be required to follow strict infection prevention guidelines.

Throughout NCDHHS’s pandemic response, its five-point strategy for long-term care facilities has focused on prevention, staffing, testing, outbreak management and oversight. The department’s innovative universal testing strategy within skilled nursing facilities has been cited by the Rockefeller Foundation as a national model.