Washington state governor announces restrictions on nursing home visits during coronavirus outbreak
Using his emergency powers to combat the coronavirus outbreak, Gov. Jay Inslee announced Tuesday that people will not be allowed to visit the resident of a nursing home or assisted living facility unless that visitor is an adult, the resident has not already had a visitor that day and the visit takes place in the resident’s room.
Inslee said perhaps the most important way to fight the outbreak is “to protect our aged adults and those who have underlying medical conditions.
“Fortunately, probably 80 percent of the people who have this virus will only have mild symptoms. But we know that this is a fatal disease all too frequently for those particularly (over 60 years of age) and those who have chronic conditions ... Most residents of long-term care facilities are at increased risk of this virus.”
The amendment to the governor’s Feb. 29 state of emergency places the following requirements on nursing homes and assisted living facilities:
▪ People can’t visit unless they have been screened for signs of symptoms of COVID-19, including fever of 100.4 or higher, cough or difficulty breathing; contact with a person with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 in the last 14 days or are under investigation for COVID-19
▪ Before entering a facility, a visitor must show identification, sign into a visitor’s log that includes the date, time in and time out, and provide their name and contact information, including phone number and email address. Facilities are barred from destroying each day’s visitor log for 30 days.
▪ People can’t work or volunteer at a facility unless they have been screened at the start of every shift and do not show any symptoms associated with COVID-19, including fever of 100.4 or higher, cough or difficulty breathing.
▪ Residents need to be isolated in their rooms away from other people at a facility that has one or more residents, staff, contractors or volunteers who are subject to a state or local recommendation or order of isolation or quarantine for COVID-19.
The new rules affect about 55,000 individuals who live in nursing homes or assisted living facilities, according to Cheryl Strange, Secretary of the state Department of Health and Social Services.
As of Monday night, there were 162 cases of coronavirus in nine counties, including Pierce, and 24 deaths, according to the state Department of Health.
Several residents of the Life Care Center nursing home in Kirkland have died from the virus.
Appearing Sunday on the news program “Face the Nation,” Inslee said “mandatory measures” to reduce public activities may be required to fight the spread of coronavirus.
Inslee said those steps may not involve quarantines or closing down cities, but instead reducing the number of public activities where people could inadvertently spread the virus.
The governor said Tuesday that based on science experts he has spoken with, the number of those with the virus plus those who have it but have not been diagnosed yet may total 1,000 in Washington.
“We need to look forward, ahead of the curve in Washington state,” said Inslee. “If we’re going to stop this epidemic or seriously slow it down, we need to look at what is coming in Washington state and not just what is here today.
“If we assume there are a thousand or more people who have the virus today, what the experts are telling us is that ... the number of people who are infected will double anywhere from five to eight days. So the number of people who are infected in an epidemic like this will double in the state of Washington unless we take some real action here,” he said.
Inslee said in seven or eight weeks, the number of people infected with the virus could reach 64,000 with 600 to 1,900 deaths in one week if “ we don’t somehow slow down this epidemic.”
“Whatever those numbers are, obviously those numbers are high enough that we need as a state to be bold on some of our actions at the right moment, when we are able to assess all of the science,” he said.
At Tuesday’s press conference, Inslee was asked if he was considering canceling events that attract large crowds or barring spectators from major sports events.
“We are considering policies in that regard. We are doing what we should do in consideration. We are looking at the most recent epidemiological research available ... We are talking to the communities and leaders and public health experts. I would not be shocked if we had some more news on that in the next few days,” Inslee said.
Also on Tuesday, Inslee announced the expansion of state policies to support workers and businesses financially impacted by COVID-19.
Based on the governor’s emergency order, the state Employment Security Department issued emergency rules that take effect Tuesday to “help relieve the burden of temporary layoffs, isolation and quarantine by ensuring unemployment benefits are available to individuals whose employment has been impacted directly by COVID-19.”
Workers will be able to get unemployment benefits and employers will get relief of benefit charges if they need to curtail or shut down operations temporarily because a worker becomes sick and other workers need to be isolated or quarantined.
“The first and best option for workers who need to miss work due to illness or quarantine is to use their employer-provided paid time off,” said Suzi LeVine, commissioner of the Employment Security Department. “When that is not an option, an ESD program may be able to help.”
Inslee also announced that all state employees impacted by COVID-19 will receive additional leave and telework options. In a letter to state employees Tuesday, the governor outlined those options:
▪ State employees will have additional leave available to them, which means they won’t be required to take existing sick, vacation or family leave.
▪ If an employee has symptoms of fever and cough or shortness of breath and has not experienced any known exposure to COVID-19 or tested positive for it, the employee is to stay home for 72 hours after the fever is gone and symptoms have improved.
▪ State agencies will explore all possible options to expand telework for employees impacted by COVID-19.
This story was originally published March 10, 2020 at 9:41 AM with the headline "Washington state governor announces restrictions on nursing home visits during coronavirus outbreak."
