Province to allow ‘cautious’ restart to long-term care, group home visits June 18
Posted June 11, 2020 1:24 pm.
Last Updated June 11, 2020 4:27 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the province will allow the “cautious” restart of visits to long-term care, retirement and group homes that are not currently experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak starting on June 18.
Other congregate living settings will also be included.
“We need families to be able to see their loved ones and today we are taking the first steps to help reunite families,” Ford said. “We must move forward but we must do it so carefully.”
Minister of Long-Term Care Merrilee Fullerton said on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, the province has developed a responsible “phased” visitation plan, saying the following conditions will be in place:
For long-term care homes: One visitor per resident at a maximum of one visit per week for an outdoor visit only.
Retirement homes: Outdoor and indoor visits, with the number of visitors being left to the discretion of the home.
All visitors: Must have tested negative for COVID-19 in the past two weeks and passed an active screening questionaire. Hands must be washed and/or sanitized upon arrival and departure. All visitors must wear a mask, stay in designated areas and maintain physical distancing.
“We are seeing the infection numbers stabilize in our long-term care homes,” said Fullerton.
“In March we made the difficult decision to restrict visitation at our long-term care homes to essential visitors only. That decision was not made lightly and I know how much it has affected our loves ones in long-term care as well as their families.”
