(Reuters) – Nursing homes in the United States will now need to check for COVID-19 and offer checks to residents, the Centers for Medicare said on Tuesday.
The new regulations also require that retirement homes have percentage effects with the US government and hospitals to provide knowledge of the COVID-19 case to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The U. S. government has not been able to do that. But it’s not the first time It has pushed to increase the availability of tests, i. e. rapid and inexpensive testing, to facilitate the identity and quarantine of ill-health patients as the country continues to reopen its economy.
In July, the United States purchased 2,000 antigen-testing systems and 750,000 checks from Becton, Dickinson and Co to distribute to nursing homes. Residents of nursing homes are dying and suffering severe headaches from COVID-19 at a higher rate than the general population.
Antigen testing is affordable and produces effects quickly, but would possibly be less accurate than laboratory testing.
“It’s better to have immediate rotation tests that can be done on a regular basis than in frequent tests that have a slow rotation time,” Brett Giroir, assistant fitness secretary at HHS, said during a call with reporters.
Nursing homes that provide good enough evidence to citizens will be fined, CMS said.
In July, Trump’s management released another $5 billion from the Provider Assistance Fund to help nursing homes meet critical needs, adding more hiring and expanding testing.
Reporting through Carl O’Donnell in New York and Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing via Leslie Adler
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