COVID-19 Update: University Campus Cleaning Protocols and Nursing Home Fines

Universities Weighing Cleaning Protocols Amid Reopening Options

Campus housekeeping workers, like university students and staff, are awaiting instructions on how their days will look next fall. Like all higher learning entities, Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is still weighing its options and will hold off on a decision to resume on-campus instruction as long as possible, Bloomberg reports.

One thing is for sure—if students return to campus this fall housekeeping staff will have their hands full with disinfecting. University officials are considering reducing the number of students in each lecture hall and classroom, as well as disinfecting them after each session.

School officials are working out details that would allow students to enter and exit classrooms in small groups rather than all at once. And they are determining where to isolate any students who may come down with COVID-19 and how to clean these areas.

Other plans include canceling some fall sports, which may mean less cleaning done in athletic facilities so housekeeping staff can focus on classroom facilities. Some departments may allow students to attend part-time to cut down on full classrooms.

Keeping classrooms clean and disinfected is always important, even in times when there is no pandemic. Learn five lessons in cleaning schools.

CMS Announces Increased Fines for Lack of Nursing Home Infection Control

In light of evidence that improper infection control measures have been a contributing factor to an outbreak of COVID-19 in many U.S. nursing homes, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced enhanced enforcement for facilities with violations of infection control practices.

CMS will be increasing fines for facilities with persistent infection control violations and imposing enforcement actions on lower level infection control deficiencies.

States that have not completed focused infection control surveys of their nursing homes by July 31, 2020 will be required to submit a corrective action plan to their CMS location outlining the strategy for completion of these surveys within 30 days, or risk losing federal funding.

As of May 24, 2020, about 12,500 nursing homes—approximately 80 percent of the 15,400 Medicare and Medicaid nursing homes—have reported over 60,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and almost 26,000 deaths. Those figures show that approximately one in four facilities had at least one COVID-19 case, and approximately one in five facilities had at least one COVID-19 related death.