MDS Alert
Don't Worry if Your Facility Lacks an AIIR
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Question: Our facility doesn’t have an airborne infection isolation room (AIIR). Does that mean we need to transfer any residents who test positive for COVID-19? North Carolina Subscriber Answer: No, says Lieutenant Commander Kara Jacobs Slifka, MD, MPH, a member of the U.S. Public Health Service and a medical officer from the COVID-19 Response Clinical Team. “An airborne infection isolation room is not required for the care of residents with suspect or confirmed COVID-19. The use of an AIIR, if available, should be prioritized for aerosol-generating procedures,” she says. “Ideally, a resident with COVID-19 is placed in a single-person room with a private bathroom. But room sharing and cohorting may be necessary. We also recognize that many long-term care facilities have very limited single-person rooms. So, transfer really should be considered only if a resident, clinically, is requiring a higher or different level of care,” she adds.
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