Health Care Support Staff to Keep Their Masks On

As most of the country took off their masks this week, workers in health care kept theirs on and staff at long-term care centers wondered whose example they should follow, McKnights Long-Term Care News reports.

The new guidelines issued by the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week recommends communities consider not just COVID-19 caseloads but also COVID-19 hospitalizations and local hospital capacities in determining whether they should remove their indoor mask mandates. Under those considerations, most parts of the U.S. may remove their mask mandates this week.

However, the new guidelines make an exception for health care facilities, so environmental services (EVS) workers and other staff at hospitals and doctors’ offices will remain masked. At least one organization representing long-term care providers is urging the CDC to revisit COVID-19 protocols specifically for nursing homes.

“News from the CDC today that our country has entered a new phase of the pandemic is certainly positive,” said Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge, in a statement Friday. “While a shift toward pre-pandemic life is exciting, we remind America that a return to “normal” is important for older adults living in long-term care, too. These communities are home to millions of residents who deserve parity with the rest of the country. We urge the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to move quickly in reassessing guidance for long-term care settings. Do not leave long-term care residents behind.” 

Throughout the pandemic, long-term care administrators have been responsible for devising infection control protocol for visitors, vendors, and others entering their facilities. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMMS) currently advises that clinical care providers use community transmission rates to make infection-control decisions under CDC’s healthcare setting guidance. 

Long-term care centers were among the facilities most hard hit by the coronavirus, especially early in the pandemic before vaccines were available.