TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday that he will lift the state’s ban on visiting nursing homes that has cut off vulnerable seniors from family since mid-March over fears of spreading the new coronavirus.
DeSantis said he would lift the ban in an executive order later Tuesday, following recommendations from a nursing home task force that has met in recent weeks.
The task force recommends that homes allow family members to visit their loved ones no more than two at a time, and that they wear protective gear including masks. Facilities would need to go 14 days without any new cases of COVID-19 among staff or residents to allow the visits.
More than half of Florida facilities — 62% have not had a new onset case since Aug. 11, said Mary Mayhew, head of the state’s Agency for Health Care Administration, who led the task force.
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