5. a. During a public health emergency involving an infectious disease affecting or likely to affect a long-term care facility, the long-term care facility shall report to the National Healthcare Safety Network database managed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least twice per week:

(1) counts of residents and facility personnel with suspected cases of the infectious disease and who have a laboratory test confirming infection with the infectious disease;

(2) counts of residents and facility personnel whose death is suspected to have been, or was confirmed by laboratory test to have been, caused by the infectious disease;

(3) the total number of authorized resident beds and the current resident census;

(4) staffing shortages;

(5) the quantity of personal protective equipment, hand hygiene supplies, cleaning supplies, and sanitization supplies, along with an assessment of the number of days that will be supported by current inventory;

(6) for facilities with ventilator-dependent units, ventilator capacity and the quantity of ventilator supplies, along with an assessment of the number of days that will be supported by current inventory; and

(7) any other metrics as the Commissioner of Health shall require as an essential or relevant component of the State‘s response to the infectious disease outbreak, epidemic, or pandemic in long-term care facilities.

b. To facilitate the enforcement of P.L.2019, c.330 (C. 26:2H-18.79), commencing with the onset of influenza season each year and for the duration of that influenza season, each long-term care facility and home health employer in the State shall report to the National Healthcare Safety Network database managed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the number of employees who have received the influenza vaccination, the number of employees who have not received the influenza vaccination due to an authorized medical exemption, and the number of employees who have not received the influenza vaccination who do not have a valid medical exemption.

c. A long-term care facility that fails to submit a report required pursuant to subsection a. or subsection b. of this section shall be liable to a civil penalty of $2,000 for each report that is not submitted. A civil penalty assessed pursuant to this section shall be collected by and in the name of the Department of Health in summary proceedings before a court of competent jurisdiction pursuant to the provisions of the “Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999,” P.L.1999, c.274 (C. 2A:58-10 et seq.).

L.2020, c.87, s.5.