Top officials with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are uneasy following a recent uptick in coronavirus cases at nursing homes over the last few weeks. 

“We are deeply concerned about the situation that we are seeing in nursing homes,” CMS Administrator Seema Verma said during a call with nursing homes Thursday afternoon. “The situation nationally has escalated.” 

Nursing homes were reporting 11,000 new cases per week when they first started submitting data through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Healthcare Safety Network in late April, which was a peak at the time. New weekly cases reached a low of about 6,300 by the end June but as of the end of July, nursing homes have reported about 12,000 new cases per week. 

She added that the rise is tied to the increased general community spread in many areas of the country. The agency is eyeing facilities with just a few cases because the disease’s ability to rapidly expand and cause an even bigger crisis, she noted.

“Even if you have one to two cases, I cannot emphasize enough that that situation can turn into very very quickly,” she said. “In a matter of hours, you can go from having two or three cases to having half of your nursing home impacted, which is what we’ve seen in some areas. Those nursing homes that don’t have any cases I would not be complacent in that.” 

Verma also explained that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is also on high alert regarding the tracking and shipping of supplies for providers. The agency is also working closely with manufacturers and lab companies to ensure point-of-care tests and results for nursing homes are being prioritized. 

Emphasis on infection control 

Verma noted that the recent rise in cases is “not just a testing issue or a supply issue.” 

“Our deep concern is that even in nursing homes that are doing testing on a regular basis that we’re still seeing significant spread,” she said. Verma explained that federal strike teams and Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) are seeing “significant deficiencies in infection control practices.”

Lee Fleisher, CMS’s chief medical officer and director of the Center for Clinical Standards and Quality, and Shari Ling, deputy CMS chief medical officer, were also on the call Thursday and laid out several infection-control recommendations and best practices for providers. They emphasized wearing personal protective equipment properly, hand-hygiene and following social distancing guidelines. 

“We are here to help you and support you. This isn’t a time of fines and being punitive,” Verma concluded. “It is a time — as [Ling] said — to be problem solvers. I want you to know that whatever you need, we are here to help you on any level, whether it’s staffing, supplies, testing, technical assistance, we’re here to get you whatever you need.”