DPH Administrative Order, Long-Term Care Facilities Reopening Guidance

Violation of a Department order is a misdemeanor under O.C.G.A. section 31-5-8 and enjoinable under section 31-5-9 (Ex. DUT-GA-004); the Governor's orders made the DPH directives mandatory under section 38-3-7 (Ex. DUT-GA-006)

Every long-term care facility (intermediate care facilities, personal care homes, skilled nursing facilities, nursing homes, inpatient hospice, assisted living communities) was ordered into a phased reopening regime under which, in the order's own verbs, the phase-progression considerations of Section 1.0 are 'Recommendations' and the infection-control practices of Section 2.0 'are recommended throughout the pandemic,' while the operative conditions are mandatory: new admissions and readmissions from a hospital 'must quarantine for 14 [days]'; 'All long-term care facilities must conduct baseline testing for all residents and [staff]' (Section 4.0, 'Testing Requirements and Guidance'); visitors 'must wear a cloth [face covering]'; transportation staff 'must wear a facemask' and 'Transportation equipment shall be sanitized between transports'; facilities 'must restrict' visitation in outbreak status and 'must report' outbreaks and staff cases to the health department; the facility 'shall report' data to NHSN. The Governor's orders made DPH long-term care directives 'mandatory' (Exs. GA-013, GA-028 to GA-038).