On Thursday, the federal public health emergency for COVID-19 will come to an end. For long-term care, it's both good news and bad news. 

For David Voepel, the CEO of the Arizona Healthcare Association, which represents Medicare and Medicaid-certified nursing homes: "It's been decreasing over the last year or so, especially in the ... skilled nursing facility setting."

He’s talking about COVID-19. The bad news: masking and vaccine requirements will end for nursing home staff.

"And they're getting rid of some of the COVID reporting," said Voepel.

Here’s where things might get tricky. If COVID-19 numbers go up, staff will have to mask, but: "We don't know what they will use as the mechanism to keep masks on."

Voepel says guidance is still being developed.