Nursing homes allow visits, but few can open doors
NEW YORK » New York began to allow people to visit loved ones — with restrictions — at nursing homes Wednesday, but few homes have opened their doors.
Just 22 of more than 600 nursing homes in New York have submitted needed safety plans to allow limited visits, according to the state Department of Health. And it’s unclear just how many of them started allowing visits Wednesday.
Only nursing homes and long-term care facilities without any coronavirus cases among residents and staffers in the last 28 days can allow limited visits, under a plan announced by State Department of Health Commissioner Howard Zucker on Fri
day. Zucker’s agency had estimated that as many of onefourth of the state’s nursing homes could qualify under that metric.
New York State Health Facilities Association President & CEO Stephen Hanse said the 28-day requirement is tough for nursing homes with large staffs.
“We’re not sure where we’re going in the future, in terms of a second potential uptick in COVID-19,” he said. “We really need to provide families the opportunity to visit with their loved ones in person.”
New York’s rules are aimed at curbing the spread of the virus by visitors, particularly those without symptoms: Visitors face temperature checks and must wear face masks and abide by social distancing. Residents can only have two visitors at a time, no more than 10% of residents can have visitors at any one time, and the state’s rules limit visitation to outdoor areas, weather permitting.
Northwell Health spokesperson Barbara Osborn said the health care system plans to allow outside-only visits starting Monday at its two nursing homes on Long Island. She said both facilities have been COVID-free for 28 days, and that the system plans to submit its plans to the state this week.
In other coronavirus-related developments from New York:
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NEW YORK CASES New York has not seen a significant uptick in infections as the state has slowly reopened its economy starting in May, but Gov. Andrew Cuomo has sought to crack down on travelers from states, where COVID-19 is spreading at higher rates. He’s also urging New Yorkers to wear masks, wash their hands and stay 6 feet (2 meters) away from others.
“We cannot go back to the hell we experienced three months ago, so please stay vigilant and New York tough,” Cuomo said Wednesday.
About 1.3% of people tested in New York for COVID-19 Tuesday were positive, according to Cuomo’s office. Nine deaths from the virus were reported.
Still, there were signs of upticks in parts of the state:
Albany County in upstate New York saw 3.8% of 860 tests come up positive Tuesday, up from 1.9% Monday. On Long Island, the threeday average of positive results in Suffolk County has gradually increased to 1.7% from .8% in mid-June.