As sa国际传媒 looks to a new phase of reopenings during the pandemic, no question plagues provincial politicians more than the restriction on visits to seniors鈥� facilities and hospital patients.
鈥淭he No. 1 issue we are hearing is people anxious to see loved ones in the latter days of their time here,鈥� Premier John Horgan said at a media briefing. 鈥淚 know how anguished they are about this, and I know that there鈥檚 families across sa国际传媒 who are just begging to get to see their loved ones.
鈥淲e hear that, we understand that, but want to make sure that people are safe.鈥�
In March, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry restricted long-term-care and assisted-living facilities for seniors to essential visitors only. That鈥檚 been in place ever since, although some visits have been allowed for family members classified as essential to support the mental health of the resident.
Delores Broten鈥檚 husband, Don Malcolm, 86, lives at Comox Valley Seniors Village. After not seeing him for nearly three months, she got her first in-person 30-minute visit with him last week.
Broten said there were COVID-19 safety signs as she entered the building. Her temperature was taken and recorded. She had to sign in and answer whether she had been travelling in the last 14 days or in contact with a person who had the virus. Broten was then given hand sanitizer to clean her hands and a face mask.
Next it was off to a room with a table and two chairs and more sanitizer. She entered through one door, her husband came in through another door.
鈥淚t was an enormous relief to see him in the flesh and he was laughing and grinning and really happy to see me,鈥� said Broten, who started a petition to restore visits.
Malcolm has dementia and Broten feared her husband of 38 years would not remember her. He no longer remembers her name. 鈥淗e still loves me 鈥� he just doesn鈥檛 know me, if that makes any sense,鈥� she said.
On Thursday, the organization representing the majority of sa国际传媒鈥檚 long-term care and assisted living operators appealed to Henry to permit family members to visit with their loved ones in care homes, provided measures are taken to mitigate risk.
鈥渟a国际传媒 has set itself apart by bending the curve on the infection rate of COVID-19,鈥� said Mike Klassen, acting CEO of the sa国际传媒 Care Providers Association, in a statement. 鈥淲e credit in part swift action by Dr. Bonnie Henry to end non-essential visits to our care homes last spring. But after being disconnected from their loved ones for several months, residents and families are demanding that we find a way to reinstate visits at care homes.鈥�
The association is asking for funding to increase staffing to manage visits and ensure there is an adequate supply of personal protective equipment for visitors.
This week, Henry said health authorities are working with the sector to make sure that when the time is right, everybody has the guidance they need to have visits resume. 鈥淚t鈥檚 trying to get everybody to the same approach,鈥� she said.
Several families in Victoria were disappointed last week when they were told visits could resume at Mount St. Mary long-term-care facility, only to have that permission rescinded four days later.
The confusion stemmed from Mount St. Mary鈥檚 interpretation of 鈥渆ssential visitors鈥� in updates to visit restrictions on the sa国际传媒 Centre for Disease Control鈥檚 website in late May. The facility鈥檚 operators believed visits were allowed after individual assessments of residents and under strict infection control.
However, after hearing of Mount St. Mary鈥檚 plans, public health officials clarified guidance and Mount St. Mary amended its visit plans.
About half of 10 scheduled 45-minute visits were cancelled.
Brenda Brophy saw her 100-year-old mother, Dot Finnerty, on the first day of visits on June 8, and felt bad for others who had their visits postponed.
Henry said provisions for essential visitors were always in place, but were further defined in late May, since they were being interpreted differently in different facilities.
The concern now is that as more businesses and schools open, the province runs the risk of increasing transmission of the coronavirus.
On Wednesday, the province announced 19 new cases of COVID-19, although the daily new case count dropped to eight on Thursday, for a total of 190 active cases. Health Minister Adrian Dix called the Wednesday numbers, up from single digits, a 鈥渃oncern.鈥�
The province still has seven active outbreaks, including six in long-term care and one in acute care.
Those outbreaks highlight the fact that seniors are the most vulnerable to serious illness from COVID-19, Henry said Thursday. 鈥淚f the virus gets into those [long-term-care] settings, it can spread undetected very rapidly, and that has led to so much of the tragedy that we have seen with deaths from this virus.鈥�
Allowing more people into long-term care homes increases the risk that somebody will inadvertently introduce the virus into a care setting, she said.
鈥淚t is the most challenging question that we have, because it鈥檚 a balancing of quality of life all around and it鈥檚 not a simple question.鈥�
Dix said the desire to restart visits to seniors home is one reason why it鈥檚 so important for everyone to maintain physical distancing, hand washing and other precautions to stop the spread of the virus. 鈥淲hen we act to follow the rules, we鈥檙e making all of that more possible,鈥� Dix said. 鈥淲hen we don鈥檛, we are making it less possible.鈥�
Unlike the Lower Mainland 鈥� and Ontario and Quebec 鈥� Vancouver Island has so far had no outbreaks in long-term-care or assisted-living facilities.
鈥淲e have been successful because we have had a plan to this point in time, and we need to reduce those restrictions 鈥� I know that, they know that, the public knows that,鈥� said Horgan.
Long-term care and assisted-living facilities have instituted testing and isolation plans, increased cleaning, purchased equipment and supplies to provide better sterilization, limited staff to working in one facility only, and restricted visitors to those deemed essential.
Broten noted how time-consuming her visit was for staff, with screening, temperature checks, cleaning and escorting. Brophy also mentioned the great lengths Mount St. Mary staff took to ensure all infection-control protocols were in place.
鈥淭o add another layer of visitations, which would be in the many thousands, needs to be done in a thoughtful way,鈥� Horgan said.
