Resident, Staff, and Visitor COVID-19 Screening

Posted on October 6, 2022 by Kari Everson

On Sept. 23, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released updates to multiple COVID-19 infection prevention and control practices. One of the areas that required further clarification was screening practices for residents, staff, and visitors. On yesterday's call, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) clarified these practices for providers.

Do we still need to screen residents, staff, and visitors?

Assisted living communities and nursing homes are no longer required to screen residents daily and no longer need to screen staff and visitors before entering the building.

Organizations are still required to assess residents to determine if there is potential for COVID-19 or other infectious processes and implement any appropriate measures based on the assessment findings.

Staff and visitors do not have to screen before entering the building. However, our settings are still required to post signage indicating an individual should not enter the facility if they had a positive COVID-19 test in the last 10 days or if they have respiratory or COVID-19 symptoms. You should also display signage indicating that you have infection prevention and control measures to protect the organization from COVID-19 transmission. Finally, you should also provide a contact number or email should the person have questions.