Key Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

COVID-19 Guidance Relevant to Long-Term Services and Supports

 PPE and Cloth Face Coverings

 1.    Using Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/using-ppe.html. A general checklist for donning and doffing.

2.     Strategies to Optimize the Supply of PPE and Equipment, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/ppe-strategy/index.html. These guidelines on conserving PPE includes separate sub-guidance for eye protection, isolation gowns, facemasks, N95 respirators, decontamination and re-use of filtering facepiece (N95) respirators, and ventilators.

3.     Use of Cloth Face Coverings to Help Slow the Spread of COVID-19, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html. Discusses use of cloth face coverings/masks by the general public to prevent transmission. Includes instructions on how to make and use cloth face coverings.

 1.    Interim Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Patients with Suspected or Confirmed Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Healthcare Settings, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/infection-control-recommendations.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Finfection-control%2Fcontrol-recommendations.html. This guidance is the foundation of all the others, covering an extensive range of topics. “The Bible.”

 2.    Discontinuation of Transmission-Based Precautions and Disposition of Patients with COVID-19 in Healthcare Settings (Interim Guidance), https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/disposition-hospitalized-patients.html. This document discusses test-based and non-test-based strategies for determining when a patient no longer requires precautions (is not infectious). It also addresses when a hospitalized patient can be discharged home or to a long-term care facility.

3.     Evaluating and Testing Persons for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/hcp/clinical-criteria.html. These guidelines establish the priorities for COVID-19 testing.

Healthcare Personnel

1.     Interim U.S. Guidance for Risk Assessment and Public Health Management of Healthcare Personnel with Potential Exposure in a Healthcare Setting to Patients with Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/guidance-risk-assesment-hcp.html. This guidance contains a chart outlining when health care personnel with exposure to a confirmed COVID-19 case should be quarantined based on the extent of exposure and use of personal protective equipment. It also clarifies that exposure to persons under investigation does not require quarantine.

2.     Criteria for Return to Work for Healthcare Personnel with Confirmed or Suspected COVID-19 (Interim Guidance), https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/return-to-work.html. Explains test-based and non-test-based strategies for determining when health care personnel with actual or suspected COVID-19 may return to work, including precautions to take upon return.

Facility-Based LTSS

 1.    Preparing for COVID-19: Long-term Care Facilities, Nursing Homes, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/long-term-care.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fhealthcare-facilities%2Fprevent-spread-in-long-term-care-facilities.html. Contains specific recommendations for SNFs that also can be applied to other facility-based settings, as appropriate.

 2.    Alternate Care Sites and Isolation Sites, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/alternative-care-sites.html. Discusses in detail how to set up Isolation Sites (higher acuity) and alternate care sites (lower acuity). The guidelines cover physical infrastructure, services, and patient care in these sites.

Home-Based LTSS

 1.    Interim Guidance for Implementing Home Care of People Not Requiring Hospitalization for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/guidance-home-care.html. Discusses evaluating the home for suitability to provide care and precautions to take while delivering home care.

 2.    Discontinuation of Isolation for Persons with COVID-19 Not in Healthcare Settings (Interim Guidance), https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/disposition-in-home-patients.html. Addresses both confirmed COVID-19 cases and people who may have been infected but are not confirmed.