JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday that visitation at nursing homes and assisted living facilities throughout Florida will once again resume.
The governor made the announcement during a roundtable discussion regarding long-term care facility visitation at ElderSource in Jacksonville. He was joined by Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Mary Mayhew and Department of Elder Affairs Secretary Richard Prudom.
"The baseline law in the state of Florida is you have the right to visitation. We obviously had to suspend that as part of the emergency to try to keep the COVID from going in the facilities," DeSantis said. "We did have some exceptions, of course, so basically this is broader exceptions to the original rule. So it's not back to fully normal but it is allowing visitation, which is important."
According to DeSantis, the following visitation guidelines must be followed:
- All visitors have to wear PPE and pass a screening.
- All visitation has to be by appointment only.
- Residents can designate up to five visitors — with two visitors at a time.
- No minors, at this time, are allowed at visitations.
- No facilities can allow visitors unless 14 days have passed without a positive case — expect for an essential caregiver or emotional support giver.
The guidelines will likely be put into effect on Tuesday, but it will be up to each facility to be ready to abide by the rules, DeSantis added.
Long-term care facilities, including nursing homes, have been closed to visitors since the coronavirus pandemic started early this year.
Watch the full roundtable discussion below:
