Support for loved ones in care is very important to their health and wellbeing.
This week Shared Health announced that restrictions in place throughout the COVID-19 pandemic continue to loosen. This means that visitation for residents of many long-term care facilities across Manitoba is expanding. This is attributed to high rates of vaccination and reduced severity of illness, Shared Health confirmed.
Effective Jan. 23, individual long-term care facilities will begin managing visitation according to the capacity and outbreak status of their facility. Previous guidance placed limits in some circumstances on the number of designated caregivers and general visitors that could attend at a time.
Guidance remains in place to limit general visitation during outbreak situations.
Visitor restrictions have evolved throughout the pandemic. Changes in visitor restrictions are informed by the latest data and advice from experts in infection prevention and control.
These changes reflect the vital role that visitors and caregivers play in the mental wellbeing and overall wellness of long-term care residents. Visitors and designated caregivers should continue to screen for signs or symptoms of illness and should stay home if they are unwell. Mask use and hand hygiene requirements as well as physical distancing where masks are not worn remain in place.
There are no changes to visitation for acute care facilities.
To review the latest provincial visitor guidelines visit: https://sharedhealthmb.ca/files/expanded-visitation-acute-and-pch.pdf
