Society guideline links: COVID-19 – Long-term care facilities

Introduction — This topic includes links to society and government-sponsored guidelines from selected countries and regions around the world. We will update these links periodically; newer versions of some guidelines may be available on each society's website. Some societies may require users to log in to access their guidelines.

The recommendations in the following guidelines may vary from those that appear in UpToDate topic reviews. Readers who are looking for UpToDate topic reviews should use the UpToDate search box to find the relevant content.

Links to related COVID-19 guidelines are provided separately. (See "Society guideline links: COVID-19 – Index of guideline topics".)

International

●World Health Organization (WHO): Infection prevention and control guidance for long-term care facilities in the context of COVID-19 – Interim guidance (2021)

Canada

●Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC): Infection prevention and control for COVID-19 – Interim guidance for long-term care homes (2022)

●PHAC: COVID-19 – Guidance on pets and long-term care homes (2021)

●PHAC: Using ventilation and filtration to reduce aerosol transmission of COVID-19 in long-term care homes (2021)

●PHAC: COVID-19 guidance for long term care facilities and nursing homes in Indigenous communities (2020)

United States

●Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Interim infection prevention and control recommendations for healthcare personnel during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic (2023)

●Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA): Respiratory protection guidance for the employers of those working in nursing homes, assisted living, and other long-term care facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020)

United Kingdom

●Public Health England (PHE): Guidance on COVID-19 – How to work safely in domiciliary care in England (2020, updated 2022)

●PHE: Guidance on COVID-19 – How to work safely in care homes (2020, updated 2021)

●Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN): COVID-19 position statement – Presentations and management of COVID-19 in older people in acute care (2020)

Australia–New Zealand

●Australian Government Department of Health (DOH): Interim guidance on managing workforce in regards to COVID-19 in aged care (2022)

●Communicable Diseases Network Australia (CDNA): National guidelines for the prevention, control and public health management of outbreaks of acute respiratory infection (including COVID-19 and influenza) in residential care facilities (2022)

●Infection Prevention and Control Expert Group (ICEG): Coronavirus (COVID-19) environmental cleaning and disinfection principles for health and residential care facilities (2022)

●ICEG: Guidance on the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) for health care workers in the context of COVID-19 (2022)

Japan

●[In Japanese] Choosing Wisely Japan: Do not send frail facility residents to the hospital unless there is an urgent need to respond on-site (2020)

Resources for patients — The following provides resources about COVID-19 for non-clinicians. These resources come from select society and government-sponsored guidelines from several countries and regions around the world.

●[United States] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): COVID-19 vaccines for long-term care residents

UpToDate also offers "The Basics" patient education pieces, which are written by the doctors and editors at UpToDate. These are written in plain language, at the 5^th to 6^th grade reading level, and answer the main questions a person is likely to have. (See "Patient education: COVID-19 overview (The Basics)" and "Patient education: COVID-19 and children (The Basics)" and "Patient education: COVID-19 and pregnancy (The Basics)" and "Patient education: COVID-19 vaccines (The Basics)".)