The number of new COVID-19 cases in Ohio’s nursing homes has dropped significantly to 343 new cases last week compared to the peak of 2,832 new cases in December. As the number of nursing-home cases continues to drop due to vaccinations in long-term facilities, Governor DeWine reminded nursing home staff and families of nursing home residents about the status of visitation in Ohio’s nursing homes. Visitation is permitted at nursing homes in Ohio if the facilities meet the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) criteria to allow visits:
- No new onset of COVID-19 cases in the last 14 days;
- The facility is not currently conducting outbreak testing; and
- CMS reports the COVID-19 county positivity rate at less than 10 percent.
Compassionate care visits, which are special visits in which a family member or other visitor provides comfort, support, and assistance to a resident whose well-being is suffering or at risk, are always permitted regardless of the criteria above. Governor DeWine sent a letter to all nursing homes in Ohio reminding them to check their county positivity rate every week to determine their visitation status and to remind them to allow for compassionate care visits. Ohio’s nursing home facilities are required to report their visitation status to Ohio’s Long-Term Care Visitation Dashboard.
