Covid-19: Rest homes and retirement villages halt visits to vulnerable elderly in short, sharp lockdown
Monday, 15 February 2021
The nation’s rest homes and hospitals for the elderly know the drill and have shut their doors to visitors to their most vulnerable residents as the country enters a short, sharp lockdown.
The Government announced yesterday that Auckland would be placed under alert level 3 restrictions and the rest of the country under alert level 2 for three days until midnight on Wednesday, February 17 following the discovery of three new community cases of Covid-19 in south Auckland.
The New Zealand Aged Care Association advised rest homes and care centres in Auckland to close to visitors except for compassionate visits like those to people at the end of their lives or in palliative care.
Most retirement villages have “care centres” for elderly residents where their most dependent and vulnerable residents live. There are about 35,000 older people in residential care in New Zealand and another 45,000 independent residents in villages.
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Big retirement village operator Summerset Group has closed all its Auckland and New Plymouth villages to visitors.
Oceania Healthcare has also closed all its Auckland villages to visitors with independent-living residents asked to stay in the villages.
In Auckland, Ryman Healthcare, the country’s largest retirement village operator, has closed its care centres and serviced apartments within the villages to visitors, and its village centres will also be closed to all activities.
Ryman is asking its independent living residents and those in serviced apartments in its Auckland villages to stay at home.
”The rules under level 3 are pretty simple, stay home in your household bubble and do not visit anyone else,” Ryman’s communications manager Dave King said on its website.
Aged care association chief executive Simon Wallace said the association advised rest homes and hospitals for elderly people outside Auckland, at alert level 2, that they did not need to close, but they should continue to practice very good infection prevention control measures.
This was the same advice as they had always given with regard to Covid-19.
He was aware of rest homes outside of Auckland that had decided to close “and that is entirely their prerogative”.
“The association is not the regulator here,” Wallace said.
It provided guidance and worked with the Ministry of Health on that.
A few members had rung for advice “but generally we are well drilled now. We know what to do.”
At alert level 2, the restrictions in rest homes and retirement villages are not uniform.
At Summerset, around the rest of the country at alert level 2, care centres are open to visitors who must wear a face mask. Cafés would remain open, but would operate under the alert level 2 single server and seated only rules, Summerset said.
Ryman has closed its care centres in villages outside of Auckland also, however palliative or end-of-life care visits will be allowed.
Ryman said residents who lived in the village would be able to visit a spouse in the rest home or hospital care section. The visitor would have their temperature taken on entry and have to wear PPE (protective equipment).
Oceania Healthcare has closed its care centres to visitors nationwide too, except for special circumstances for visiting residents receiving end-of-life care.
Oceania said friends and family could visit a resident within their apartment or villa, but they must sign a declaration and wear a mask at all times. Visitors were not permitted in communal areas.