State Updates
Governor Cuomo Announces Further Reopening Details
Today (May 14th), Governor Cuomo held a press conference during which he announced that total hospitalizations and deaths related to COVID-19 continue to decline. The Governor also announced that the North Country has now met all of the State’s reopening metrics and will join Central New York, Finger Lakes, Mohawk Valley, and Southern Tier regions in proceeding with a phased reopening tomorrow when the “NY on PAUSE” order expires.
The Governor made several announcements related to funding. The White House has agreed to expedite a federal payment of $3.9 billion to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). To further address shortages of emergency medical equipment, the State is providing an initial $3 million in grants to incentivize businesses to manufacture supplies and equipment in New York State, and intends to form further partnerships with corporations to expand the medical supply business. Such entities should contact the Empire State Development here.
As mentioned in previous updates, the Department of Health (DOH) is now investigating a rare COVID-19 related illness in children, now up to 110 cases. DOH released an updated health advisory (available here) for health care providers that establishes an interim case definition for the illness, which is currently known as Pediatric Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome. The health advisory includes clinical, laboratory, and epidemiologic criteria as well as reporting requirements for providers. DOH is directing hospitals to prioritize testing for children with associated symptoms.
Updated NYC Health Department COVID-19 Recommendations
Today, the New York City (NYC) Health Department released updated COVID-19 recommendations (available here), which amend previous guidance as follows:
- Extending the duration of self-monitoring and isolation for asymptomatic people and health care workers who test positive for SARS-CoV-2 with a molecular-based diagnostic test (e.g., rRT-PCR) from 7 to 10 days.
- Extending minimum duration of isolation for non-hospitalized people with possible or confirmed COVID-19 from 7 to 10 days.
The recommendations also provide guidance on:
- Discontinuing isolation and transmission-based precautions for people with possible or confirmed COVID-19 in special settings or who are immunocompromised.
- Managing non-hospitalized individuals who have a subsequent positive molecular COVID-19 test following an appropriate period of isolation.
Federal Updates
CMS Releases Nursing Homes Best Practices Toolkit
Yesterday (May 13th), CMS released a Nursing Home Best Practices toolkit to support nursing homes and governing agencies with additional resources regarding the response to COVID-19. The toolkit contains a running list of solutions that states have implemented in nursing homes, segmented into topics including workforce and staffing, testing, disinfection, reporting, transportation, screening, and personal protective equipment, among others. The toolkit also contains a specific section for telehealth solutions, and a list of organizations currently available to assist nursing homes in each state.
The toolkit is available here.