Updated Nursing Home Visitation Guidelines In New York State
01/14/2022On January 7th, Governor Hochul announced as of January 12, 2022, all visitors to nursing homes must:
- Present a negative COVID test result one day prior to visitation for antigen tests and two days prior to visitation for NAAT (e.g., PCR) tests.
- All visitors must wear a well-fitting non-surgical paper mask or a mask of higher quality (i.e., surgical mask, KN95 or N95) at all times during any visitation at the facility. If the visitor wishes, a cloth mask may be placed over the paper mask. The masks must cover both the nose and the mouth.
- Visitors are also required to physically distance from facility personnel and other patients/residents/visitors that are not directly associated with the specific resident(s) being visited by that individual.
- There are exemptions to the testing requirement pursuant to 42 CFR § 483.10(f)(4)(i)(C) for representatives of the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman who must be provided with immediate access to any resident.
- Compassionate caregiving visitors, within the meaning of Public Health Law §2801-h, who are visiting in anticipation of the end of a resident’s life or in the instance of a significant mental, physical, or social decline or crisis of a resident.
- In any case where such an exception is made, the visitor must wear any additional personal protective equipment (PPE) that facility personnel deem appropriate to the situation.
