12/03/2020

Today's COVID-19 Report: Friday, December 4, 2020

Friday, December 4, 2020

Here are the latest need-to-know updates for Friday, December 4 regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Today's Report

• Governor DeWine to address vaccination on today’s press conference
• LeadingAge Ohio urges Governor to include Home Care, Hospice in vaccine priorities
• Home Health and Hospice COVID-19 test reporting responsibilities
• LeadingAge Ohio to join COVID-19 vaccination priority populations workgroup
• ODH to review CDC’s new quarantine guidance
• AMDA shares vaccine Q&A for families, staff
• BELTSS proposing rules modifications
• CDC updates multifamily housing guidance
• HUD staff to join LeadingAge December 7 Housing Advisory call
• HUD posts 2021 operating cost adjustment factors
• LeadingAge Need to Know

Governor DeWine to address vaccination on today’s press conference

Governor DeWine, on Thursday’s press conference, stated that he would be providing an update on the state’s vaccination plan today, Friday, December 4, 2020 during his press conference. Yesterday, the State Medical Board released a State Prepares for COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution document. The document outlines the nationwide end-to-end training exercise with the packaging that will be used to distribute the Pfizer vaccine that ODH took part in. The Pfizer vaccine is expected to be the first manufacturer to receive the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Ohio Department of Health’s COVID-19 vaccination webpage includes Ohio specific resources.

The CDC has the following webpages available on the most current information on COVID-19 vaccination:

• EARLY RELEASE: The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices Interim Recommendation for Allocating Initial Supplies of COVID-19 Vaccine - United States, 2020
• 8 Things to Know about Vaccine Planning
• How CDC Is Making COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations
• How CDC Is Making COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations
• Vaccines
• Frequently Asked Questions about COVID-19 Vaccination

LeadingAge Ohio urges Governor to include Home Care, Hospice in vaccine priorities

LeadingAge Ohio President/CEO Kathryn Brod sent a letter to the DeWine administration on Thursday regarding the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Advisory Comittee on Immunization Practice’s (ACIP’s) decision on December 1 to prioritize health care workers for Phase 1A vaccine access. The letter urges the Administration to consider home care and hospice health care workers in the Phase 1A priority.

Home Health and Hospice COVID-19 test reporting responsibilities

On its Tuesday all-member Q&A Call, LeadingAge Ohio’s policy team fielded questions from home health and hospice members related to reporting requirements for the Abbott BinaxNOW tests they received from the federal government.

Home health and hospice agencies who are conducting staff COVID-19 antigen testing via Abbott BinaxNOW tests or other means, need to report both positive and negative test results to the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) on a daily basis. ODH has published updated guidance on COVID-19 laboratory testing reporting requirements on the Electronic Laboratory Reporting (ELR) website. Home health and hospice agencies will need to register the name of their agency here. Once approved by ODH, your agency will be included in the lab reporting web portal for aggregate count submissions. The web portal link will be provided after registration.

The ODH guidance explains the specific reporting requirements before and after secure file validation has been achieved. While long-term-care facilities also need to submit point-of-care testing data to CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), home health and hospices do not. Their only recurrent reporting requirements are to ODH.

Additionally, as before, if a home health or hospice agency has a patient or staff member who tests positive, they must contact the local health department so they can initiate contact tracing. If you have any questions regarding reporting of COVID-19 test results, please contact Anne Shelley at ashelley@leadingageohio.org.

LeadingAge Ohio to join COVID-19 vaccination priority populations workgroup

This week, LeadingAge Ohio was invited by the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) to join the COVID-19 Vaccination Priority Populations Workgroup. Workgroup members include those who serve/interact with certain priority populations for vaccination such as first responders, vulnerable populations, older adults, individuals living in non long-term care congregate settings, select critical workforce members, and faith-based organizations.

The workgroup will meet on a weekly basis to give members an update on Ohio’s COVID-19 vaccination efforts, get their feedback and answer questions. LeadingAge Ohio is hopeful that the formation of the workgroup signals the Administration’s intent to begin sharing details of the vaccine distribution plan with the provider community.

ODH to review CDC’s new quarantine guidance

Current quarantine standards for nursing homes and assisted living providers includes a time frame of 14 days. This week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released updated quarantine guidance that reduces this time frame, but states still have the authority to determine whether they will follow CDC guidance. The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) has communicated that providers are to continue with the 14 day time frame until they have had time to review the newest guidance and make a recommendation for Ohio.

The CDC’s Options to Reduce Quarantine for Contacts of Persons with SARS-CoV-2 Infection Using Symptom Monitoring and Diagnostic Testing guidance is as follows:

Local public health authorities determine and establish the quarantine options for their jurisdictions. CDC currently recommends a quarantine period of 14 days. However, based on local circumstances and resources, the following options to shorten quarantine are acceptable alternatives.

• Quarantine can end after Day 10 without testing and if no symptoms have been reported during daily monitoring.
• With this strategy, residual post-quarantine transmission risk is estimated to be about 1% with an upper limit of about 10%.

• When diagnostic testing resources are sufficient and available, then quarantine can end after Day 7 if a diagnostic specimen tests negative and if no symptoms were reported during daily monitoring. The specimen may be collected and tested within 48 hours before the time of planned quarantine discontinuation (e.g., in anticipation of testing delays), but quarantine cannot be discontinued earlier than after Day 7.
• With this strategy, the residual post-quarantine transmission risk is estimated to be about 5% with an upper limit of about 12%.

In both cases, additional criteria (e.g., continued symptom monitoring and masking through Day 14) must be met and are outlined in the full text. LeadingAge Ohio anticipates ODH will release its guidance in the coming week, so members should watch the COVID-19 report for further guidance.  

AMDA shares vaccine Q&A for families, staff

The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine (also known as the American Medical Directors Association/AMDA) has put together a "Question and Answers" document to assist those looking for information on the upcoming COVID-19 vaccine. LeadingAge Ohio encourages members to use the document in responding to staff and family questions related to safety and efficacy of the anticipated COVID-19 vaccines.

Some of the questions asked are:

• How is a vaccine developed and tested?
• How will we know it is safe?
• What are the types of potential vaccines that may be approved?
• What are some of the possible side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine?
• Will the vaccine make me sick?

LeadingAge Ohio will work to identify and/or develop family and staff education tools to meet a variety of literacy needs. If you have identified helpful tools you would like to share with colleagues, please send them to the COVID-19 mailbox.

BELTSS proposing rules modifications

Section 119.032 of the Revised Code requires the Board of Executives of Long-Term Services and Supports (BELTSS) to review the rules of Chapter 4751 of the Ohio Administrative Code no later than the rules’ assigned review dates. BELTSS is proposing to modify OAC 4751-1-05.1 and 4751-1-13. Please see the website at www.beltss.ohio.gov under the link “News and Events”, then “rule changes” for the proposed changes.

The early stakeholder outreach period will end on December 18, 2020. Any person may direct written comments or requests for information concerning BELTSS’ rule proposals to Deborah Veley, Executive Director of BELTSS.

CDC updates multifamily housing guidance

The CDC updated their multifamily housing guidance on December 3, 2020. Independent living communities pose a challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic due to potential for increased risk of exposure for residents and staff. This CDC guidance is provided to help owners, administrators, and operators of multifamily housing work together with residents, staff, and public health officials to create a safe living environment and prevent the spread of COVID-19. Public health actions needed to reduce the spread of COVID-19, such as social distancing, can lead some people to feel isolated and lonely or can increase stress and anxiety. The updated guidance also provides an outline for assessing and reducing exposure risks and provides resources for coping with stress in healthy ways.

The updated CDC guidance includes: promoting behaviors that reduce spread, maintaining health environments in common areas, maintaining health operations, preparing for when someone is sick, and additional resources on preventing the spread in multifamily housing.

HUD staff to join LeadingAge December 7 Housing Advisory call

Staff from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Multifamily Housing (MFH) will join the LeadingAge Housing Advisory Group call on Monday, December 7 at 12:30 PM to discuss recently revised guidance allowing the use of electronic signatures and file transmission/storage at MFH communities.

Details:

Monday, December 7 at 12:30PM
Join Skype Meeting
Join by phone by dialing 1-240-669-5802
Conference ID: 388027

HUD posts 2021 operating cost adjustment factors

The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has published new Operating Cost Adjustment Factors (OCAFs) for Fiscal Year 2021, effective February 11, 2021. OCAFs are used for adjusting or establishing rents for projects assisted with Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments. The national average OCAF is 2.5% for 2021, compared to 2.2% for 2020. The FY 2021 Multifamily Utility Allowance Factors, used to adjust baseline utility allowances are also now available. More info can be viewed by clicking here.

LeadingAge Need to Know: COVID-19 – December 4, 2020

LeadingAge shares the latest coronavirus news and resources with members twice each weekday. This morning's update featured information on yesterday's congressional briefing.

Check out the full report here.

Questions

Please send all questions to COVID19@leadingageohio.org. Additionally, members are encouraged to visit the LeadingAge Ohio COVID-19 Working Group facebook group to pose questions to peers and share best practices. LeadingAge is continuing its daily calls for all members.  To participate in these daily online updates, members should register here.  

LeadingAge Ohio is working to ensure that the information in our daily alerts, on our website, and all coronavirus-related communications is as accurate as possible. However, LeadingAge Ohio makes no guarantees about the accuracy of the information.