Wary rest homes restricting access
Rest homes across Nelson are urging people to not visit residents if they are ill, and some are checking visitors’ temperatures and restricting access, to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
But an elder advocate says maintaining contact with those who are isolated or live alone by checking in with them by phone is ‘‘hugely important’’ to maintain social connection during a pandemic.
Ryman Healthcare chief executive Gordon MacLeod said visits and events had been restricted at the Ernest Rutherford Retirement Village in Stoke. It is home to 300 residents, 94 of whom receive hospital care.
‘‘It is clear that older people are particularly vulnerable to Covid-19, and it is our job is to keep them safe,’’ McLeod said.
The organisation had a pandemic plan and extensive infection control plans in place, he said. It had been preparing since January, getting additional supplies, including personal protective equipment (PPE), as well as carrying out additional training and briefings.
‘‘Our key messages have been to stay away from our villages if you are ill, or if you have been to Covid-19-affected countries, and we have had a large education campaign under way around hygiene and preventing the spread of the virus.’’
MacLeod said visitors had to undergo a check-in process that included having their temperature checked, to ensure that anyone who was unwell stayed away.
‘‘We are appealing to everyone to help us keep Covid-19 at bay by changing habits and remembering to practise good hand hygiene, cough or sneeze into tissues or elbows, and avoid shaking hands or any unnecessary contact.
Any residents who were unwell would be isolated and cared for, he said.
‘‘We also have plans to help any residents who live independently and need to go into self-isolation.’’
He said the organisation had ‘‘superb coordination’’ from staff in
New Zealand and Australia, 80 of whom across the two countries had already been required to self-isolate.
Retirement Villages Association executive director John Collyns said a fact sheet about the virus, its symptoms, its spread, and how people could protect themselves and others in the village, had been circulated to more than 43,000 residents around the country.
‘‘We will be asking residents and the villages to keep a record of all visitors, with their contact details if they need to be traced.’’
It had also written guidelines for operators that covered the management of village open days, cleaning protocols, and what self-isolation looked like in a village, along with the sort of preparations they needed to make, keeping visitor records, and what to do during a lockdown.
Collyns said villages had control plans in place to manage outbreaks of viral infections, so this was not an unusual occurrence.
Face-to-face contact via Age Concern’s Accredited Visiting Service had been stopped as part of the rapidly evolving response to the coronavirus pandemic. However, Age Concern Nelson Tasman manager Caroline Budge said contact with isolated older people would be maintained via phone.
Budge and the members of her team were yesterday calling the users of the service to let them know that face-toface visits would be on hold for now.
She urged the wider community to think of older people who might be isolated and/or worried about the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus.
‘‘Check in,’’ Budge said. ‘‘Let them know we’re thinking about you and we’re here. Call or message. Can you do food shopping [for them] and leave it at the door?
‘‘This is the time for the community to come together, just not face to face.’’
The team at Age Concern recognised how ‘‘hugely important’’ social connection was, she said, and intended to keep running its regular morning tea gatherings for now.
However, the situation could change if public health advice recommended a halt to even small gatherings.
‘‘Things are changing so rapidly,’’ Budge said.