California Department of Public Health Visitor Requirements

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has issued new requirements for visitors in many care settings, including Assisted Living, Memory Care and CCRCs, including vaccination, boosters, and testing. Beginning Friday, January 7, 2022, through February 7, 2022 (unless extended), CDPH requires the following must be met to visit a resident in an Assisted Living community:

Indoor Visits:

Indoor visits will be allowed only under the following conditions:

• Visitors must verify they are vaccinated based one of the following:
  • 2 doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, plus a booster 6 months after the 2^nd dose
  • 1 dose of the J&J vaccine, plus a booster 2 months after the 1^st dose
  • All recommended doses of any World Health Organization (WHO) emergency use listing COVID-19 vaccine, plus a single booster dose of Pfizer
  • All recommended doses of a mix and match series composed of any combination of FDA-approved, FDA-authorized, or WHO-EUL COVID-19 vaccines, plus a single booster dose of Pfizer
• Visitors must also provide evidence of a negative test within the following time period prior to the visit:
  • 1 day if using an antigen (rapid) test
  • 2 days if using a PCR test

Outdoor Visits:

Outdoor visits will be allowed, for anyone who doesn’t meet the requirements for an indoor visit, only under the following conditions:

• Visitors must provide evidence of a negative test within the following time period prior to the visit:
  • 1 day if using an antigen test
  • 2 days if using a PCR test

Any PCR or antigen test can be used that has FDA Emergency Use Authorization. 

Alternative Visits:

Visitors that are unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or booster-eligible visitors who have not yet received their booster dose can have visits under the following conditions:

• Outdoor visits only if they provide documentation of a negative test at the time of entry to the community and the specimen collection occurred within 2 days if using PCR or 1 day if using antigen testing before each visit.
• If a resident is not able to leave their room or otherwise meet with visitors outdoors, the visitation may take place indoors, even for visitors who cannot provide vaccine verification or a negative test; however,
  • these visits cannot take place in common areas, or in the resident’s room if the roommate is present,
  • the visitor must wear a well-fitted mask with good filtration (N95, KF94, KN95, or surgical masks are preferred over cloth face coverings), and
  • the resident must wear a well-fitting face mask at all times and physically distance.
• Visitors who visit for multiple consecutive days are only required to provide proof of a negative test every third day (meaning testing is only required on day 1, day 4 and day 7, and so on).

Visitor Vaccination and Testing Requirement Exemptions:

The following visitors are exempt from the vaccination and testing requirements:

• Visitors who are visiting a patient in critical condition when death may be imminent.
• In emergent situations, support persons for a patient with physical, intellectual, developmental disability, or cognitive impairment.

For subsequent visits following the emergent situation and as soon as reasonably possible thereafter, but no longer than 72 hours, these visitors must comply with the vaccine verification or applicable testing requirements.

Requirements for All Visitors:

The following requirements apply to all visitors:

• Wear a well-fitting face mask (a surgical mask, double masking or a respirator is recommended) at all times during any visitation at the community.
• Wear any other PPE while in the resident’s room that community staff deem appropriate to the situation; and
• Physically distance from community staff and other residents/visitors that are not part of their group at all times during any visitation at the community.

The full requirements of the health order can be found on CDPH.CA.GOV

We encourage you to visit your loved one living in our community as it is important for friends and families to be together, and we appreciate your anticipated cooperation with this new public health order. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please contact the community executive director.