State will let kids visit at nursing homes
Reunions can be held outside; restrictions to remain indoors
More COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted to allow children of all ages to visit their families at long-term-care facilities, Florida Gov. RonDeSantis said Thursday. He said it’s time for patients “to be reunited with their loved ones.”
DeSantis will allow patients to share time with families, including those under age 18, during visitations held outside such facilities, regardless of whether there are cases of COVID-19 detected within the facility. Restrictions will remain in place for indoor visits, which require facilities to be COVID19 free for 14 days.
He said although infections can happen, “we just don’t have very many cases that are linked to outdoor activity,” he said. “Outdoors has been something that’s been very positive.”
His executive order also eliminates the five-person maximum number of general visitors and allows each long-term-care facility tomake its own visitor limit.
He said rapid testing that takes 15 minutes will be more readily available for facilities that choose to test visitors and staff. Developments for seniors, such as Century Village in South Florida, can also request tests.
The precautions have taken a toll on families, said Shevaun Harris, the acting secretary forth estate’ s Agency for HealthCare Administration.
“Without visitation the stories are heartbreaking,” DeSantis said. “You have to look at the whole enchilada in terms of health” when it comes to mental health and physical fitness, he said.
“People were struggling,” he said. Florida’s long-term-care facilities were first closed to visitors in mid-March when DeSantis signed an emergency order to prevent outbreaks of COVID-19 within a vulnerable population.
He said the virus was the most lethal to older people in communal living settings where there was a chance for “significant spread.”
That was a decision that “comes with cost,” because residents were denied the touch of their family, he said.
Thursday’s announcement was the latest loosening of rules.
In August, new guidelines were announced that allowed visitors who provide essential care with daily activities or emotional support to visit and touch their loved ones — if they wear a surgical mask and get trained in how and when to wear more protective gear.
General visitors were allowed back into longterm-facilities but required to keep a social distance of 6 feet from a loved one.
At the time, with the first wave of relaxed restrictions, only people age 18andolder who wanted to visit a resident could come, and each resident could designate up to five visitors and allow two in at a time.
At least 6,591 deaths have occurred among residents and staff at nursing homes and assisted-living centers throughout Florida. On Thursday, state records showed 14 additional deaths in the past day.
DeSantis, speaking from Fort Myers on Thursday, said announcements about mental health initiatives would come soon.