The coming months could find Kentucky nursing home residents at a bigger risk of illness. Sherry Culp is the state's long-term care ombudsman. Culp said recent reporting does show increasing cases of COVID in nursing homes. She noted residents sometimes need clarification on booster vaccines.
“To help residents understand what it means to be up to date and how that’s defined,” said Culp.
Culp said whatever is going on in the community impacts nursing homes because of come and go people-traffic. The ombudsman noted a red designation on the coronavirus map means all visitors should be masked. Culp added that relates to community transmission readings.
And the ombudsman mentioned flu and RSV as two other concerns this winter.
“Even before the pandemic, infection control issues were the number one cited problem in long term care facilities,” said Culp.
Culp said there’s no rule requiring every single resident to mask, but there is a mask tolerance provision. This winter brings with it concern about COVID, flu, and RSV.
