MEMPHIS, Tenn — There will be no hugs and kisses when family members reunite with their loved ones living in nursing homes for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced the state would loosen the restrictions on nursing home visitors, meaning for most facilities in the state, visitors could return for the first time. It takes effect starting October 1st.
In order for visits to resume, an assisted living home must have gone two weeks without a positive COVID-19 test.
- No children will be allowed to visit, but a resident can have two adult visitors at once.
- The visit cannot exceed 45 minutes.
- The visits will have to stay socially distanced, meaning hugs are out of the question.
Quail Ridge Assisted Living and Memory Care's Executive Director Dawn Blankenship said no embraces will be hard on families.
“It’s going to be so hard even just seeing - that is just heartbreaking, but letting them at least come in and see them again and seeing the community thriving will be great for the family members to see," she said.
Nursing home visits were put on hold early on in the pandemic. Older adults are one of the most vulnerable groups when it comes to the virus.
COVID-19 clusters have hit nursing homes in Shelby County particularly hard. Of the reported 457 COVID-19 deaths in the county, as of Tuesday, nursing home cases make up a quarter of them.
The guidelines allow limited visits to happen both inside and outdoors. Blankenship said most visits will be outside except in the event of poor weather.
"We’re very excited for our residents," she said. "We have been waiting quite a long time for this and I know their family members have been waiting and are ready.”
It's been eight months since residents have been able to be with their families. In that time, Quail Ridge, like other facilities, has arranged meetings via Zoom and FaceTime and window visits.
She says the separation has not been easy on many of the residents.
“This has been tough on them, not being able to see their loved ones," she said. "Many of our residents are nearing their last few years of life and that human interaction with family is so very important.”
Quail Ridge will be one of several facilities able to resume visits starting on October 1st. Blankenship said there hasn't been a positive COVID-19 case at the facility in the last month.
In any case that a COVID-19 case happens after visits resume, a facility would have to suspend visits again for two weeks.
