Congregate Settings and Care Facilities: COVID-19

On this page:
Correctional settings and homeless services sites
     Operational and response guidance
     Testing and case reporting
     Therapeutics
     Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
     Vaccination
     Data and trends
DHS licensed residential and nonresidential settings
ICF-IID

These settings include homeless service providers and shelters, correctional settings, Department of Human Services (DHS) licensed care settings, and intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ICF-IID).

Guidance for long-term care, nursing homes, and assisted living facilities can be found at Long-term Care: COVID-19.

Correctional settings and homeless services sites

Contacts, email updates, and webinars

• Contact the COVID-19 highly impacted settings unit at Health.R-congregate@state.mn.us.
• Sign up to receive infectious disease for congregate living email updates from MDH.
• Subscribe to Email Updates for American Indian Infectious Disease Resources.
• Find a local or tribal health department or community health board.
• Visit Minnesota Interagency Council on Homelessness: Webinars to register for the weekly shelter providers webinar and review slides from past webinars.

Operational and response guidance

• COVID-19 Quick Reference Guidance for Correctional Facilities and Homeless Service Sites (PDF)
  Answers to some of the most common questions when responding to suspected or confirmed COVID-19 cases in correctional and detention settings and homeless service sites.
  11/29/23
• CDC: Guidance on Management of COVID-19 in Homeless Service Sites and in Correctional and Detention Facilities
• NIOSH: Safe and Proper Use of Disinfectants to Reduce Viral Surface Contamination in Correctional Facilities
  Printable posters in English and Spanish with information on how to reduce viral surface contamination through safe and proper use of disinfectants in correctional facilities.
• HUD Exchange: Infection Control and Winter Planning Series
  Series of short videos to help congregate settings with winter planning and infection control. Topics include general infection control measures, communicating with staff and residents about infectious viruses, personal protective equipment (PPE), cleaning and disinfection, and isolation and operational considerations for congregate and non-congregate shelters.

Testing and case reporting

• COVID-19 Testing and Case Reporting Resources for Shelter and Correctional Settings (PDF)
  Provides a list of COVID-19 testing resources available through MDH, offers advice on selecting an appropriate testing strategy, and walks through the requirements for reporting results.
  Updated 11/29/23
• COVID-19 Outbreak and Death Reporting Form for Shelters and Correctional Facilities
  Use this form to report a COVID-19 outbreak or death in a staff person or resident suspected to have died due to COVID-19.
• Minnesota Department of Administration: COVID-19 Testing Master Contract Program
• COVID-19 Community Testing Sites
  Information about community testing site locations.
• COVID-19 Testing
  General information such as where and when to take a COVID-19 test.

Therapeutics

• Cue Health: COVID-19 Treatment in MN
  This telehealth program is for Minnesota residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 to receive at-home assessment and treatment at no cost.
• COVID-19 Therapeutics Checklist for Shelter and Correctional Settings (PDF)
  Updated 7/26/23
• COVID-19 Medications
  Information about medications to prevent and treat COVID-19, including who may benefit from treatment and how to access treatment.
• Don’t Delay: Get COVID-19 Medications Right Away (PDF)
  Poster explaining how to access COVID-19 treatment. To be downloaded and posted in shelter resident areas.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

• MDH has masks, gloves, face shields, and gowns available to homeless service settings and correctional facilities. If interested in these items, email Health.R-congregate@state.mn.us with the amount and size (for gloves) of each item you are requesting.

Vaccination

• COVID-19 Vaccination Event Request Form for Congregate Settings
  Online form to request vaccine clinics for COVID-19 first shots, second shots, and boosters, as well as the annual influenza vaccine.
• COVID-19 Vaccine Facts in Correctional Facilities (PDF)
  Printable information on COVID-19 vaccines that can be shared with staff and residents in correctional facilities.
  Updated 9/20/23
• University of Minnesota: COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence in Minnesota's Prisons and Jails
  Includes a series of videos highlighting personal COVID-19 vaccination experiences.

Data and trends

• Situation Update for COVID-19
  Includes cases associated with high risk congregate living settings, vaccine data, links to CDC community levels, wastewater surveillance data, and more.
• Viral Respiratory Illness in Minnesota
  Charts showing weekly rates of COVID-19, influenza, and RSV hospitalizations in Minnesota by season, age, and race and ethnicity.
• CDC: Protect yourself from COVID-19, Flu, and RSV
  Charts showing emergency department visits for COVID-19, influenza, and RSV nationally and by state.
• University of Minnesota: MN Wastewater Surveillance Study
  Charts showing COVID-19 virus levels in wastewater statewide, by region, and by participating community.
• CDC: COVID Data Tracker
  Maps, charts, and data on multiple measures of COVID-19 activity nationally and by state.

DHS licensed residential and nonresidential settings

• CDC: Additional Information for Community Congregate Living Settings (e.g., Group Homes, Assisted Living)
• CDC: COVID-19 Guidance for Adult Day Services Centers
• CDC: Guidance for Direct Service Providers

ICF-IID

Intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ICF-IID) must continue to follow federal guidance and infection prevention and control recommendations from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

• CMS: Policy and Memos to States and Regions
• CDC: Interim Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Healthcare Personnel During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic