Visits allowed during confinement to avoid social isolation
Because the elderly are among the people most affected by social isolation, the government has decided to authorize visits to residents of reception facilities for dependent elderly people (Ehpad) during this second confinement. In his televised speech, the Head of State explained: ” visits to retirement homes or nursing homes will this time be authorized in strict compliance with health rules ”. The goal being “to prevent human tragedies from arising where people at the end of their lives find themselves totally isolated.”s ”.
The updated health protocol for visits and protective measures in nursing homes
To allow visits to nursing homes, a new health protocol has been updated. This provides for compliance with strict health instructions and requires visitors to bring an exceptional travel certificate to visit their loved ones by checking the box ‘Travel for compelling family reasons, for assistance to vulnerable and precarious people or childcare ‘.
As for establishments, the protocol asks establishments which can do so to “constitute sectors dedicated to suspected or confirmed cases (COVID sectors) in order to avoid the confinement of residents in the rooms”. In parallel, ” screening actions with antigenic tests are deployed to test asymptomatic professionals working in contact with people accommodated in order to prevent the spread of the virus within establishments “.
Visits by appointment and under conditions
If family outings are temporarily suspended, visits to nursing homes must henceforth and beforehand be subject to compulsory registration. The protocol specifies: “ family visits are organized by appointment only, weekdays and weekends. The management of the establishments can set a limited number of visitors per resident and / or a maximum number of visitors simultaneously per meeting time. “.
The visitor must therefore undertake to respect the health instructions if he wants to visit a loved one in nursing home, namely:
- Wearing a mask throughout the visit
- Respect for physical distancing
- The ban on exchanging objects or food with residents
- Avoid visits at the slightest doubt and at the slightest symptom
- The completion of a register mentioning name, address and telephone number and the signing of a charter respecting barrier gestures within the establishment
For information, the protocol specifies that “ visits to relatives may be authorized on an exceptional basis by the management of the establishment, in particular for end-of-life situations or in the case of psychogeriatric disorders of a resident “.
In all cases, the management warns that if these instructions are not followed, ” all visits would be suspended “.
