We’re sharing our weekly update to keep WRC employees, residents, and families informed of changing regulations and policies at the national and state level, as well as within the WRC continuum. Thank you to all WRC essential workers!
The PA Department of Health (DOH) issued updated guidance for healthcare personnel returning to work with confirmed or suspected COVID-19. The updates include:
Except for rare situations, a test-based strategy is no longer recommended to determine when to allow healthcare professionals (HCP) to return to work.
For HCP with severe to critical illness or who are severely immunocompromised, the recommended duration for work exclusion was extended to 20 days after symptom onset (or 20 days after their initial positive SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic test for asymptomatic persons).
Other symptom-based criteria were modified as follows:
Changed from “at least 72 hours” to “at least 24 hours” have passed since last fever without the use of fever-reducing medications
Changed from “improvement in respiratory symptoms” to “improvement in symptoms” to address expanding list of symptoms associated with COVID-19
The PA DOH has also issued updated guidance on the discontinuation of transmission-based precautions for patients with COVID-19. These changes include:
Except for rare situations, a test-based strategy is no longer recommended to determine when to discontinue Transmission-Based Precautions.
For patients with severe to critical illness or who are severely immunocompromised, the recommended duration for Transmission-Based Precautions was extended to 20 days after symptom onset (or, for asymptomatic severely immunocompromised patients, 20 days after their initial positive SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic test).
Other symptom-based criteria were modified as follows:
Changed from “at least 72 hours” to “at least 24 hours” have passed since last fever without the use of fever-reducing medications.
Changed from “improvement in respiratory symptoms” to “improvement in symptoms” to address expanding list of symptoms associated with COVID-19.
LeadingAge has developed an Isolation and Precautions Quick Sheet resource with the most up-to-date recommendations from the CDC. The quick sheet can be found here, and offers this helpful table for transmission-based precautions and returning to work for Healthcare professionals:Universal baseline testing continues across WRC communities. To date, the Laurelbrooke Landing CCRC in Brookville has been tested, including residents, tenants, and employees of Laurelbrooke Personal Care, McKinley Health Center, The Laurels, and The Villages. Tenants and employees of North Fork Heights in Brookville have also completed their testing. The remaining WRC communities have their testing scheduled as follows:
August 11th – Highland Oaks and The Villas at Water Run Landing
August 12th – Edgewood Heights
August 13th – Ridgmont and the Village at Ridgmont
LeadingAge continues its Act for Older Adults campaign, as Congress is back in DC and negotiations on the next COVID-19 relief package have already begun. LeadingAge president and CEO, Katie Smith Sloan told NBC Nightly News that aging services providers are getting hit by COVID-19 like a category-5 hurricane. The national news story was an outcome of coverage driven by a LeadingAge national-local press conference Monday and is part of their urgent effort to break-through with messages right now, as Congress works on the next COVID-19 relief legislation.