FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Trump administration issued new guidelines to help nursing homes reopen.  

Kentucky closed nursing homes to visitors March 10 and states ultimately have the choice to reopen them.  

The guidelines from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services say if a nursing home wants to reopen to visitors they should first:

• Have no new cases of COVID-19 for 28 days.  
• The nursing home also has to be well-staffed and have enough personal protection equipment and cleaning supplies 
• Have adequate access to testing.  
• The bed capacity of nearby hospitals should also be considered.  

Governor Andy Beshear (D) says he knows not seeing loved ones in nursing homes is tough, but the virus is serious.  

"So we want to continue virtual visitation — visitation through glass at the windows, if we can loosen up some of that — but we need to be really careful because remember, one person infected going into a nursing home can cause some real significant devastation that you can’t undo."

As of Tuesday, more than half of the people who died in Kentucky from COVID-19 lived or worked at a long-term care facility.