Background

Given the progress of COVID-19 vaccination among healthcare personnel, CDPH recommends a cautious and gradual lifting of certain restrictions while remaining vigilant for breakthrough infections and transmission in facilities through ongoing surveillance and testing. CDPH recognizes the importance that visitors play in the mental well-being and recovery of patients; therefore, CDPH is revising the visitation guidance for facilities, effective on March 23rd (one week from the release of this AFL), to encourage safely getting more visitors to the bedside and updating prior recommendations for visitation.

For health facilities located in counties with substantial or lower risk levels of community transmission (as per CDPH's Blueprint for a Safer Economy website, any county not in the purple tier), CDPH recommends that hospitals allow two visitors from the same household at the same time, at a time (provided social distancing can be accomplished) and visitors comply with hospital visitor guidelines.

For purposes of this AFL, the terms "visitor" and "support person" are used interchangeably, as are "patient" and "resident."

Visitors do not need to be designated in advance by the patient; however, each visitor is subject to screening for fever and COVID-19 symptoms and must wear a face covering upon entry and at all times within the facility, and other personal protective equipment (PPE) as appropriate while in the patient's room. Facilities should also limit visitor movement in the facility. For example, visitors should not walk around in hallways of the facility and must go directly to and from the patient's room.

In addition, CDPH has developed visitor guidelines for specific patient groups to ensure support for their mental health and well-being, while striving to limit the spread of the virus. The following expanded visitation guidelines are recommended by CDPH for specific populations regardless of the county positivity rate.

Pediatric Patients

• Visitors are essential for the mental health of pediatric patients. CDPH recommends that pediatric patients be allowed up to two support persons at a time.
  
• In the case of prolonged hospitalization, the facility should permit two designated support persons for pediatric patients.
• For NICU and PICU patients, the facility should permit two designated support persons that may visit at the same time.

Labor and Delivery Patients

• The presence of a partner or support person is essential to the mental health of patients who are in labor and delivery. CDPH recommends that up to two support persons be allowed to be present with the patient. In addition to the support person(s), CDPH recommends that a doula, if desired by the patient, be permitted to be present if prior arrangements have been made with the hospital and the doula complies with hospital PPE and infection control guidelines.