Cross Contamination in Nursing Homes Leads to COVID-19 Cases

Cross contamination, a problem during the best of times, can be deadly during a pandemic. An analysis of nursing home data conducted by the Los Angeles Times found that the vast majority of assisted living and long-term care homes in Los Angeles County with outbreaks of coronavirus have been cited in recent years for violating federal infection control safety rules, including rules to prevent cross contamination.

The analysis found that 89% of the assisted living facilities with coronavirus had previous infection control violations that ranged from mishandling highly contagious patients to not properly cleaning surfaces and equipment and mixing contaminated items with clean items.

For instance, a nursing home in Santa Monica, California that routinely exceeds the statewide average for the number of complaints and deficiencies was found to have cross contamination problems. One complaint found that staff did not clean a chair used to help a patient bathe, then left it outside in the hall until it was used for another patient, leading to cross contamination between residents. Another complaint found staff were leaving used drink containers of coffee, water, soft drinks, and milk in housekeeping carts, where these containers contaminated clean linen for 39 of the facility residents.

Custodians should be part of the solution for cross contamination rather than a source of the problem. Learn precautions custodians can follow to stop cross contamination at your facility.