CHARLESTON, W.Va. — There’s going to be another color-coded COVID-19 designation that all nursing homes in West Virginia will soon be required to follow which could increase testing of staff members.
The federal government will soon mandate that different testing protocols be followed if a nursing home is located in a county where there is community spread of COVID-19.
“They’re going to go through every county in the country and they’re going to color code it and it’s going to change every-other-week,” West Virginia Health Care Association Executive Director Marty Wright said. “Depending on what your color code is and the level of community spread there will be an additional testing mandate on the facilities to test their staff.”
Wright said nursing homes in counties considered to have high community spread will have to test their staff members twice-a-week, those considered middle status will have to test their staff members weekly and nursing homes in counties considered low status for community spread will only have to test staff members once a month.
The new designations will be released every other Monday.
“So really what’s been set up here is a federal mandate for facilities to test all staff depending on the amount of community spread,” Wright said this week on MetroNews “Talkline.”
Marty Wright, CEO of @WVHCA1, speaks with @HoppyKercheval about the updated protocol for nursing homes in West Virginia. WATCH: https://t.co/wkudfIRZCB pic.twitter.com/ivwx4QtxEg
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) August 31, 2020
West Virginia, following orders from Gov. Jim Justice, have been aggressively testing at nursing homes since early in the pandemic when a positive case is reported. Testing is required to continue each week at the home until their are 14 days without a positive case.
There are currently outbreaks, defined as one positive case, in more than 30 nursing homes in West Virginia. Some of the homes are in the middle of severe outbreaks which have included deaths of several residents. According to the state Department of Health and Human Resources COVID-19 Dashboard, 105 of the state’s 222 COVID-19 deaths have come at nursing homes. The number is likely actually higher because of a delay in posting.
Wright said the federal government testing is aimed at finding asymptomatic carriers of the virus early before nursing home residents are impacted.
“They’re trying to find and chase down asymptomatic spreaders,” Wright said.
He said it’s a good idea but it could cause problems because of the continued lag, not only in West Virginia, but across the nation in getting test results back.
“It’s well-intentioned and everyone necessarily supports it, just the logistics have not caught up with doing that kind of staffing testing,” Wright said. “The more demand we put on that testing the more difficult it’s going to be to try and get these 48-hour, quick-turnaround tests done,” he said.
The West Virginia Health Care Association represents most nursing homes and assisted living communities in West Virginia.