Limited visits to nursing homes will begin around the country from today. The majority of residents have not received visitors since March due to Covid-19 restrictions.
It has been a difficult number of weeks for many homes, their residents and families. Reopening is dependent on how the homes implement the recommendations of the Health Protection Surveillance Centre.
It has advised that visits should not last more than 30 minutes, so most homes have introduced booking systems to enable them stagger visitors throughout the week.
But not all homes will open today nor are they required to unless the person in charge feels it is safe to do so. Homes with confirmed or suspected Covid-19 cases will not receive visitors and other homes are