Long-term Care Facilities and COVID

REPORTING Cases and Outbreaks of Infectious Disease

To notify the Snohomish County Health Department of a positive case of COVID-19, Influenza, RSV, GI Illness, or undiagnosed respiratory illness outbreaks within your facility:

Report using the online reporting tool, called the Facility Outbreak Notification Tool (FONT) for Healthcare Settings

• This website is HIPAA compliant and can be completed on a mobile device (such as a phone or tablet) or a computer.
• Person-level information (name, DOB, date of test) is required. Facilities can upload a line list or enter person-level information directly into the webpage. 
• After you have reported to FONT, there is no need to follow up by email or call unless you have questions. 

To notify the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) of an outbreak of infectious disease (including but not limited to COVID-19, Influenza, etc):

Report using the DSHS Online Incident Report portal. You can choose “any other type of resident or client incident” to report an outbreak.

In addition to reporting to Snohomish County Health Department and your regulatory body, Skilled Nursing Facilities should report required cases and outbreaks to NHSN.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Covid-19 Current Guidance

As of January 2024, the Snohomish County Health Department and the Washington State Department of Health (WA DOH) follow CDC guidance for COVID-19.

• You can find WA DOH links to CDC guidance in the What To Do When You Are Sick With COVID-19 Or Another Respiratory Virus (DOH).
  1. Please note that specifically for COVID-19, the CDC distinguishes between SNFs following “healthcare setting” guidance and all other long-term care facilities as a category that follows “community guidance” 
• Snohomish County Health Department has an additional recommendation in place for masking mitigation measures in SNFs.
  1. In addition to during an outbreak, universal masking is recommended when any of our county-level respiratory illness transmission indicators are at the threshold. Please check the County Respiratory Dashboard to see if universal masking is recommended for SNFs at this time.
• You can review the threshold for reporting and additional investigation of COVID-19 cases in the 1/22/24 DSHS Dear Provider Letter.

COVID-19 response and Preparedness resources

• The Washington State Department of Health COVID-19 Preparedness and Outbreak Control Checklist for Long Term Care Facilities summarizes CDC guidance and is intended to help guide long-term care facilities in COVID-19 preparedness and outbreak management (Updated September 2023)
• If you are interested in an in-person or video Infection Control Assessment and Response (ICAR), please email shd.ltc@co.snohomish.wa.us with the subject line “ICAR Request – (Name of Facility)”. In the body, please tell us your facility’s address, point of contact, and phone number.

Testing Information

• Point of Care Testing (POC): To perform a COVID-19 POC test or interpret the results, your facility will need a Medical Test Site Waiver
• The Washington State Department of Health has a chart that outlines which licensed healthcare provider can administer COVID-19 tests

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

• Facilities need to provide a sufficient supply of PPE for staff. Donning and Doffing guides can be found here.
• Please see WA DOH’s Respiratory Protection Program Website for more information on fit testing

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES

WHERE CAN I FIND DEAR PROVIDER LETTERS?

Infection Control TRAINING

• Nursing Home Infection Preventionist Training from the CDC
• Project Firstline is a nation-wide project supported by CDC and the Washington State Department of Health to provide frontline healthcare workers with infection prevention and control education.

VACCINATIONS