OLYMPIA — Gov. Jay Inslee Thursday announced a four-step plan to begin allowing long-term care facilities like nursing homes to accept visitors amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Such facilities were some of the earliest to see restrictions as the pandemic, as Washington's outbreak initially centered around a Kirkland nursing home. In response, Inslee in March ordered limitations on people entering care facilities as the state began to confront the COVID-19 outbreak.
Now, Inslee is announcing a phased plan that will allow facilities to gradually open back up.
Facilities will be allowed to move forward with phases that correspond to the state's broader four-part statewide reopening plan. That plan has allowed counties with better public-health data to advance to phases allowing more businesses to reopen and looser restrictions on social activities.
Among other requirements, facilities have to go 28 days without a confirmed COVID-19 case among residents or staff. Facilities must also keep a minimum two-week supply of personal protective gear, like masks, gloves and gowns.
The first phase in the plan allows for limited outdoor visits, as well as remote, window and compassionate-care visits.
The second phase will allow for the addition of some limited indoor visits in certain circumstances, if such engagements can't be done remotely or outdoors.
The third phase will expand those limit indoor visits, and also allow residents and clients to leave facilities as long as they are wearing a mask, practicing social distancing and are screened for symptoms when they come back.
The fourth phase would allow a long-term care facility to return to normal visitation practices, but with COVID-19 protections still in place.
As cases spiked in Washington in recent months, however, Inslee put a pause on counties advancing to new phases in the four-part plan. Currently no county is in the fourth phase.
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