Chief Medicare officer Seema Verma announced nursing homes will restrict all visits from family and “nonessential” visitors during the coronavirus pandemic.
“These temporary national blanket waivers are reserved for the rarest circumstances, and they represent a massive mobilization of our country’s resources to combat this terrible virus,” said Verma, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator, at a White House press event Friday.
All “nonessential” visitors will be barred, but the ban will make an exception for family to see loved ones before they die. Though Verma said the ban on families visiting family is temporary, she did not say how long the ban will last.
Nursing homes have been hardest hit by the coronavirus, which mostly affects the elderly and those with underlying medical issues. The first U.S. deaths due to the coronavirus took place in the Life Care nursing home in Washington state, which quickly instituted a no-visitor policy as more and more residents became sick.
“We fully appreciate that this measure represents a severe trial for residents of nursing homes and those who love them,” Verma said. “But we are doing what we must to protect our vulnerable elderly.”
