COVID prepared long-term care facilities for norovirus threat

"By February 2021, residents of California long-term care facilities accounted for more than a quarter of all COVID-19 deaths. Vaccines and treatments have since eased the dangers posed by the pandemic, but viral threats have not disappeared. A new norovirus strain, known as GII.17, spiked throughout the Bay Area last winter, according to wastewater monitoring that tracks disease trends. Experts say the strain spreads more efficiently than earlier versions of the so-called winter vomiting disease."

"Experts say COVID-era safety provisions including increased communication between facilities and health officials, updated inspections, changes in outbreak response and a more prominent role for infection prevention staff are now central to how long-term care homes manage infectious disease. Changing how facilities respond to suspected infections is critical because the close quarters of senior living centers make them uniquely vulnerable to outbreaks,"

California long-term care homes remain vulnerable to viral outbreaks despite vaccines and treatments reducing COVID-19 mortality. A norovirus strain, GII.17, circulated widely in the Bay Area and spreads more efficiently than earlier variants, posing dehydration and complication risks for older adults. Wastewater monitoring detected high concentrations, particularly in the East Bay and on the Peninsula, as winter returns. COVID-era changes now include increased communication with health officials, updated inspections, standardized outbreak responses, earlier isolation and testing of symptomatic residents, and a stronger role for infection prevention staff. Policies now weigh infection control against residents' social and emotional well-being.

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