Agency for Health Care Administration
Press Release
August 7, 2020
“A hospital is prohibited from discharging any resident who has tested positive for COVID-19 or is exhibiting symptoms consistent with COVID-19 to any long-term care facility until the resident has been cleared for discharge, unless the receiving facility has a dedicated wing, unit, or building with dedicated staff to accept the COVID-19 positive resident.”
To prevent the spread of COVID-19 at long-term care and residential facilities, the Agency for Health Care Administration issued Emergency Rule 59AER20-8. This rule replaces the previous Emergency Rule 59AER20-6 to align with CDC updates to provide clarity for hospitals and long-term care facilities about clinical decision making during the transfer of residents.
A hospital is prohibited from discharging any resident who has tested positive for COVID-19 or is exhibiting symptoms consistent with COVID-19 to any long-term care facility until the resident has been cleared for discharge, unless the receiving facility has a dedicated wing, unit, or building with dedicated staff to accept the COVID-19 positive resident.
The rule stresses the CDC guidance regarding a symptom-based strategy for clearance. Consistent with the CDC guidance, long-term care facilities should not expect a test-based clearance to be performed prior to transfers for previously positive residents.
The rule updates the symptom-based strategy to reflect these CDC changes based on “evidence that supports ending isolation and precautions for persons with COVID-19 using a symptom-based strategy. This update incorporates recent evidence to inform the duration of isolation and precautions recommended to prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to others, while limiting unnecessary prolonged isolation and unnecessary use of laboratory testing resources.” See full CDC update at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/duration-isolation.html.
Editor’s Note: We thank Doug Adkins for sending this our way.
This is so much more sensible than the order from Andrew Cuomo in NY that doomed so many of the most vulnerable elderly to a certain death. And it explains why FL, even with a larger population and a higher percentage of elderly, has a much smaller death count than NY.