California — California skilled nursing providers have been required to conduct universal testing for COVID-19 at all facilities under a directive from state health officials.
Providers must test all residents and staff at least once, and if a facility has no positive cases, it then must still test 25% of residents and workers every seven days, a letter sent to operators from the California Department of Public Health said.
Providers also must ensure all staff members are tested each month.The California Department of Health announced the latest testing requirements for skilled nursing providers in late May.
The new policy is stricter than Los Angeles County’s, which allowed nursing homes — after they conducted universal testing — to test 10% of residents weekly if no positive cases were reported and skip staff testing altogether.
From the July/August 2020 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
