Trump administration to require nursing homes
to report COVID-19 cases to families of residents
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TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | MAY 1-MAY 7, 2020 5
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
After calling on President
Donald Trump to ensure
that nursing homes immediately
report coronavirus
infections and deaths to the
families of residents, Congresswoman
Grace Meng
announced on April 20 that
the Trump Administration
has agreed to implement the
new rule.
On April 18, Meng sent a
letter to the president calling
for family members of nursing
residents to be swiftly
notified of any COVID-19
cases.
Under the new order from
the Centers for Medicare
and Medicaid Services, nursing
homes must inform the
Centers for Disease Control,
residents, and their lovedones
representatives within
12 hours.
“Family members of nursing
home residents have a
right to know this information,”
Meng said. “It will
help ensure that they can do
everything possible to protect
their loved ones, and it
will go a long way towards
controlling and preventing
the spread of the illness. We
must do all we can to safeguard
the health and safety
of our elderly population.”
According to Meng,
Trump also agreed to use
the Defense Production Act
(DPA) to boost the manufacturing
of swabs that are
needed to increase COVID-19
testing.
Meng has consistently
urged the president to use
the DPA to ramp up testing.
“I am also pleased that the
president, as I have implored
him to do, will use the Defense
Production Act to increase
testing,” Meng said. “We
need the DPA desperately in
our fight against COVID-19.
President Trump’s decision
to invoke it for coronavirus
tests is welcome news but it
should have been done weeks
ago. The president must now
follow through to make sure
this actually happens, and I
will watch closely to ensure
that it does.”
Reach reporter Carlotta
Mohamed by e-mail at cmohamed@
schnepsmedia.com
or by phone at (718) 260–4526.
U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the daily coronavirus task force briefing at the White House
on April 20, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
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