New York's expanded nursing home visitation guidelines take effect on Friday.

The department of health strongly recommends nursing home visitors take a rapid test before entering a facility.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced these expanded protocols earlier this week. He says the health department would help in giving nursing homes COVID-19 tests so visitors can get tested on site.

In counties where the positivity rate is less than 5%, no testing would be required, but it is encouraged. If a county falls within 5 to 10%, testing would be needed within 72 hours of a visit.

If the positivity rate in a county is greater than 10%, then no visitors would be allowed except for compassionate care.

Compassionate care visitors are for residents in hospice, end-of-life care, residents 100 years old or older, or who need more emotional support than usual.

Nursing homes also cannot have visitors if they've had a positive COVID-19 case in the last 14 days.