The Texas Health and Human Services Commission is allowing limited visitation for nursing facilities and long-term care facilities.
Public visitation is limited to outdoor visits only for nursing facilities. Physical contact between residents and visitors is not permitted.
Additional conditions a nursing facility must meet to conduct limited outdoor visitation include:
- No confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in staff in the last 14 days.
- No active positive cases in residents.
- Any facility previously experiencing an outbreak that has fully recovered must be adequately staffed and following adequate infection control procedures.
- Facility staff are being tested for COVID-19 weekly.
For long-term care facilities, limited indoor and outdoor visitation procedures are allowed. Physical contact between residents and visitors is not permitted.
Additional conditions a long-term care facility must meet to conduct limited visitation include:
- No confirmed COVID-19 positive staff in last 14 days.
- No active positive cases in residents.
- Adequate staffing to facilitate visitation in compliance with infection control requirements.
- Use of plexiglass as a safety barrier for indoor visitation to prevent spread of COVID-19.
The department also issued emergency rules requiring additional actions by nursing facilities to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
- Each facility must have a COVID-19 response plan that includes designated staff to work with cohorts of residents who have tested positive for COVID-19, and staff should not change designation from one day to another, unless required to maintain adequate staffing for a cohort.
- All nursing facilities must screen all residents, staff, and people who come to the facility in accordance with specified criteria, and each resident must be screened at least three times a day for signs or symptoms of COVID-19.
- Each facility must have plans for obtaining and maintaining a two-week supply of personal protective equipment and resident recovery plans for continuing care when a resident recovers from COVID-19.
“This is a rapidly evolving situation and we are constantly assessing what actions are necessary to keep residents and staff safe in these facilities,” said Phil Wilson, Executive Commissioner, Texas HHSC. “By following these procedures and rules, facilities can more effectively prevent the spread of COVID-19 and help us achieve our shared goal of reuniting residents with their families and friends.”
