US Nursing Home Visitor Ban Isolates Seniors

Expand The single-story Life Care Center, a facility in Kirkland, Washington, March 18, 2020. © 2020 AP Photo/Elaine Thompson Last week, in response to the spread of the coronavirus, the United States Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the regulator for over 15,000 nursing homes in the US, announced a “no visitors” policy for all facilities across the country. The blanket ban cuts off over 1.5 million older residents from family and friends, with limited exceptions for end-of-life visits. Having limits on visitors to nursing homes is reasonable, given that the virus has disproportionate…

© Human Rights Watch - vendredi 20 mars 2020