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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated their guidance on Wednesday to expand in-person visitation for nursing home residents. Millions have been forced to remain separated from their loved ones in long-term care throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that nursing home residents are getting vaccinated against the coronavirus at high rates, the risk of transmission has dropped, according to the CMS. (Chen, 3/10)

CMS on Wednesday relaxed guidance on nursing home visitation, allowing unrestricted indoor visits for the first time in a year. While the guidance permits indoor visitation for both vaccinated and unvaccinated residents, CMS still recommends outdoor visitation to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. "Given the ongoing risk of COVID-19 transmission, CMS continues to recommend facilities, residents, and families adhere to the core principles of COVID-19 infection control, including maintaining physical distancing and conducting visits outdoors whenever possible," the guidance reads. (Christ, 3/10)

In a statement of the reasoning behind the updated recommendations, Dr. Lee Fleisher, the chief medical officer at C.M.S., cited the millions of vaccines administered to nursing home residents and staff and a decline in infections in nursing homes. “C.M.S. recognizes the psychological, emotional and physical toll that prolonged isolation and separation from family have taken on nursing home residents, and their families,” Dr. Fleisher said. (3/11)

“There is no substitute for physical contact, such as the warm embrace between a resident and their loved one,” CMS said in its new guidance, “Therefore, if the resident is fully vaccinated, they can choose to have close contact (including touch) with their visitor while wearing a well-fitting face mask and performing hand-hygiene before and after.” So while hugs are OK again for residents who have completed their vaccination, precautions such as wearing masks and using hand sanitizer remain in place as a counterbalance to risk. CMS also underscored that maintaining 6 feet of separation is still the safest policy, and outdoor visits are preferable even when residents and visitors have been vaccinated. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 3/11)