Nursing homes and assisted living facilities across the state and in Colorado Springs will be prohibiting friends and family members from visiting residents for social reasons to help prevent the spread of coronavirus among residents at highest risk.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment executive director signed an order Thursday stating that nursing homes and other senior health care facilities must screen all visitors and only admit those who have essential business. The order does not say when the restrictions will be lifted. 

Under the order, family members and friends who have end of life business or are visiting to provide necessary care will be permitted to enter health care facilities, but all social visits will be prohibited, said Doug Farmer, president and CEO of Colorado Health Care Association and Center for Assisted Living. The trade association has been helping to educate nursing homes and other facilities on the new rule and other official guidance for keeping residents safe. 

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Those who are 80 and older have been inordinately affected by the virus and the restriction is intended to help protect them, he said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said seniors and those with ongoing health problems such as heart disease, diabetes and lung disease are at higher risk of contracting and possibly dying of the virus. 

“(The order is) really aimed at preventing the virus from coming in the doors to begin with,” he said. 

Nursing Home, ALR, ICF PH Order-links.pdf

The order requires visitors to nursing homes to be screened to determine their travel history and if they have symptoms associated with coronavirus, including a fever, cough, sore throat and shortness of breath, according to the state’s form. 

While visitors are in nursing homes they will be asked to limit their movement, the number of surfaces they touch and physical contact with the resident, according to the public health order.

Friends and family members who wish to communicate with residents, but are not allowed to visit, should be provided phone numbers or a way to video chat with a resident, according to the order.  

The health department can impose a fine of $1,000 and up to a year in jail for failing to comply with the order, the document states. 

The state health department did not immediately return a request for comment about the order.

But days before the order came out, nursing homes and other facilities started getting recommendations about how to protect residents and screen visitors, Farmer said. 

So far, feedback from family and friends to facilities about the new rule has been positive, Farmer said. 

“The vast, vast majority of family members they have talked to are understanding about what they are trying to achieve,” he said. 

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