COVID-19 Healthcare Quality and Worker Safety Information

COVID-19 Module Data Dashboard – CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) is supporting the nation’s COVID-19 response by introducing a COVID-19 Module that enables hospitals to report:

Current inpatient and intensive care unit bed occupancy.
Healthcare worker staffing.
Personal protective equipment supply status and availability.

Reporting is currently available to all U.S. acute care hospitals, critical access hospitals, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, inpatient psychiatric facilities, and long-term acute care hospitals. Data is updated weekly and can be downloaded.

Evaluation and Management Considerations for Neonates At Risk for COVID-19 – This guidance is intended to inform healthcare providers about the diagnosis, evaluation, infection prevention and control practices, and disposition of neonates (≤28 days old) with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 or known COVID-19 exposure, including birth to a mother with confirmed or suspected COVID-19.

Information for Pediatric Healthcare Providers – Pediatric cases of COVID-19, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), have been reported. However, there are relatively fewer cases of COVID-19 among children compared to cases among adult patients. This guidance is to inform pediatric healthcare providers of information available on children with COVID-19.

For Parents: Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) associated with COVID-19 – Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) is a condition where different body parts can become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs. CDC does not yet know what causes MIS-C. However, we know that many children with MIS-C had the virus that causes COVID-19, or had been around someone with COVID-19. To learn more, including what you can do if you think your child is sick with MIS-C, please read: For Parents: MIS-C.

Performing Facility-wide SARS-CoV-2 Testing in Nursing Homes – This document describes considerations for performing facility-wide testing among nursing home residents and HCP. Facility-wide testing involves testing all residents and HCP for detection of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and can be used to inform infection prevention and control (IPC) practices in nursing homes. This document is intended for health departments and nursing homes conducting viral testing for current infection, such as reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). To learn more, please visit: Performing Facility-wide SARS-CoV-2 Testing in Nursing Homes.

Updated Testing Guidance for Nursing Homes.

The guidance has been updated to include the following:

Reference to the CMS Nursing Home Reopening Guidance for State and Local Officials, which addresses testing of residents and healthcare personnel in nursing homes.
Reorganized guidance to focus on how testing can be added to other infection prevention and control practices to keep COVID-19 out of nursing homes, detect cases quickly, and stop transmission.

To learn more, please visit: Testing Guidance for Nursing Homes.

Updated Preparing for COVID-19 in Nursing Homes.

This guidance has been updated to include the following:

Added a recommendation to assign an individual to manage the facility’s infection control program.
Added guidance about new requirements for nursing homes to report to the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN).
Added a recommendation to create a plan for testing residents and healthcare personnel for SARS-CoV-2.

To learn more, please visit: Preparing for COVID-19 in Nursing Homes.

Updated Guidance for Dental Settings – This information supplements, but does not replace, the general infection prevention and control recommendations for COVID-19.

Summary of Recent Changes:

Recommendations are provided for resuming non-emergency dental care during the COVID-19 pandemic.
New information is included regarding facility and equipment considerations, sterilization and disinfection, and considerations for the use of test-based strategies to inform patient care.
Expanded recommendations for provision of dental care to both patients with COVID-19 and patients without COVID-19.

To learn more, please visit: Guidance for Dental Settings.

Updated Interim U.S. Guidance for Risk Assessment and Work Restrictions for Healthcare Personnel with Potential Exposure to COVID-19.

This guidance was been updated to include the following:

Simplifying exposures warranting work restrictions for healthcare personnel.
Changing the definition of prolonged exposure to more closely align with the definition used for community exposures and contact tracing (15 minutes or longer).
Providing flexibility in approaches for healthcare facilities depending on the degree of community transmission and availability of resources to perform contact tracing.

To learn more, please visit: Potential Exposure at Work.

Updated Frequently Asked Questions for Healthcare Personnel Responding to COVID-2019 – CDC updates FAQ’s for Healthcare Infection Prevention and Control and Healthcare Professionals regularly based on feedback from professionals on the ground.

Supporting Loved Ones in Long-term Care Facilities (PDF) — CDC recognizes the hardship that long-term care residents and families are experiencing right now due to COVID-19. To learn how you can support your loved ones in long-term care facilities read more here.

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) — Universal and Serial Laboratory Testing for SARS-CoV-2 at a Long-Term Care Skilled Nursing Facility for Veterans — Los Angeles, California, 2020 — After identification of two cases of COVID-19 in an SNF in Los Angeles, universal, serial reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing of residents and staff members aided in rapid identification of additional cases and isolation and cohorting of these residents and interruption of transmission in the facility. You can read more here: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) — High COVID-19 Attack Rate Among Attendees at Events at a Church — Arkansas, March 2020 — On March 16, 2020, the day that national social distancing guidelines were released, the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) was notified of two cases of COVID-19 from a rural county of approximately 25,000 persons; these cases were the first identified in this county. The two cases occurred in a husband and wife; the husband is the pastor at a local church. You can read more here: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) Associated with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) COCA Call — Presenters discussed the clinical characteristics of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, how cases have been diagnosed and treated, and how clinicians are responding to recently reported cases associated with COVID-19. Listen to the recording here: COCA Calls/Webinars.