DAYTON—On March 13, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced critical new measures designed to keep America’s nursing home residents safe from the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).

The new measures CMS announced, which supersede prior CMS guidance, constitute the agency’s most aggressive and decisive recommendations with respect to nursing home safety in the face of the spread of COVID-19. They include:

Restricting all visitors, effective immediately, with exceptions for compassionate care, such as end-of-life situations;

Restricting all volunteers and nonessentia...