COVID-19 Testing of Long-Term Care Residents & Staff

Several sizeable COVID-19 outbreaks have occurred in Michigan-based nursing homes in the past three months, and, as a result, Governor Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services (MDHHS) has issued new infection control requirements for all licensed nursing homes, including Marlette Regional Hospital’s Long-Term Care Unit, to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

This new order requires nursing homes to begin conducting COVID-19 testing for nursing home residents and staff on or before July 3, 2020 as outlined below:

• Initial baseline testing of all residents and staff
• Testing of all new or returning residents during intake and routine quarantine of new residents (unless testing is done within the past 72 hours)
• Testing any resident or staff with symptoms or exposure
• Weekly testing of all residents and staff with any positive cases among residents or staff until 14 days after the last new positive case
• Weekly testing of staff while Sanilac County remains an area of medium risk or higher on the MI Safe Start Map

If data by region proves to be low-risk, visitor restrictions may be revised; however, visitor restrictions remain in place at this time in accordance with Governor Whitmer and MDHHS guidelines.

The safety of our long-term care residents, patients, and staff continues to be our #1 priority and we will continue to take extraordinary precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. We are staying up-to-date with State of Michigan, CMS, CDC, and MDHHS recommendations as they continue to change.

For COVID-19 updates at Marlette Regional Hospital, please visit www.marletteregionalhospital.org or visit our Facebook page.