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Nursing Home Visit Ban May Be Lifted Soon, Cuomo Says

Seth Wenig
/
AP
Gloria DeSoto, 92, visits with her family, in their car, from the Hebrew Home in Riverdale on Thursday. DeSoto's family were able to visit by a speaker, while they stayed in their car and Gloria stayed behind the glass of an entryway.

Nursing home residents in New York have not been allowed to visit in-person with loved ones in three months. But new guidance on the issue is expected soon. 

More than 6,100 nursing home residents in New York have died from COVID-19. In many instances, families were unable to visit loved ones before they died. 

Now, Governor Andrew Cuomo says state health officials are close to a decision on whether the ban on visitors will be lifted.

“The Department of Health is doing a study as we speak. They're going through it, talking to nursing home operators and a number of infectious disease doctors, and we're going to have an answer this week.” 

The governor has faced criticism for his handling of nursing home practices amid the pandemic, sparking calls for a federal investigation. Separate investigations by the state attorney general and health department are ongoing. 

Desiree reports on the lives of military service members, veterans, and their families for WSHU as part of the American Homefront project. Born and raised in Connecticut, she now calls Long Island home.