The COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause operational disruption for adult day providers. Sadly, some providers have not been able to reopen. Some providers are considering re-opening, and others have been back in person for a while. Adult day care centers are facing the ever-present workforce challenges and are also having difficulty in discerning best practices surrounding COVID-19 guidance.

LeadingAge asked the CDC if there were any updates to their adult day care operations guidance that we should share with members as well as reporting to them what we were seeing on the ground. CDC let us know that their published guidance from July 2021 is still applicable in its strategies that adult day administrators, staff, volunteers, and participants can use to help maintain healthy environments and operations and lower the risk of COVID-19 spread. This CDC guidance focuses on the consistent and layered use of multiple prevention strategies. The primary factors for adult day centers to consider, while removing and adding layers, include:

• Level of community transmission of COVID-19
• COVID-19 vaccination coverage, including among participants, staff, volunteers, and visitors
• COVID-19 testing
• Any local COVID-19 outbreaks or variants of concern

CDC recommends that any removal of a layer of prevention strategies should be implemented one at a time and monitored closely for any outbreaks or increases in COVID-19 cases. Additionally, these factors should be discussed in collaboration with local or state public health partners. Notably, this CDC guidance states that:

• Fully vaccinated staff, volunteers, and participants may resume indoor and outdoor activities without wearing a mask or staying 6 feet apart, except where required by state, local, or tribal laws, rules and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.

• People who are not fully vaccinated should follow all prevention measures until fully vaccinated. Preventive measures include getting vaccinated, wearing a mask, practicing physical distancing, and hand hygiene.

We are learning from members that their adult day care waiting lists are growing. More older adults and their families would like to have access to adult day services. The implementation of Covid 19 guidance impacts the number of older adults that can be served. We will soon begin our Adult Day Care Network for members. Until then, we are asking members to email Meredith concerns and requests regarding adult day, either related to the CDC guidance or other issues. We are also interested in hearing from our adult day members to gain feedback on the implementation of CDC, State, and local Covid guidance in adult day center operations.