Governor: New guidance means nursing home visits will be allowed

Visits to residents of nursing homes, suspended for six months because of the COVID-19 pandemic, will be allowed again under new federal guidance, Gov. John Bel Edwards said Friday.

The new guidance comes from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Edwards' decision last week to move Louisiana into Phase Three of coronavirus precautions did not include an immediate resumption of nursing home visits, even though the visits are allowed under the White House Coronavirus Task Forces Phase Three guidelines.

Instead, Edwards said the state was working on a pilot program that would allow visits outdoors, where the spread of COVID-19 is considered less of a threat.

Louisiana's first real coronavirus hot spot was Lambeth House, a New Orleans retirement home. The close quarters and pre-existing health conditions of many nursing home residents made them an especially vulnerable population.

Under the new federal guidance, Edwards said, the state will move as quickly as possible to allow nursing home visits.

On Thursday, Edward also easedvone restriction on businesses that serve alcohol. Restaurants, casinos and bars in parishes that allow them to reopen may now serve alcoholic beverages until 11 p.m., an hour later than announced in the original Phase Three proclamation.

The governor said the change was made after talks with representatives of the restaurant and hospitality industry.