Continued confidence in the reduction of transmission of COVID-19 and the positive impact of vaccination and testing has meant a further increase in care home visiting is to be enabled.

We are pleased to announce that we are adopting many of the new visiting processes announced by the Government this week. The hard work of our teams and our partners within the health and care sector has enabled this to happen.

We are pleased with the progress of our vaccination programme which has seen 92% of residents and 80% of colleagues receive their first dose and 56% of residents and 40% of colleagues receive the second dose. Those numbers are rising every day.

The new visits come into place from Monday 12 April. The vast majority of homes will implement this immediately but a small number will not as homes in ‘outbreak status’ – having two or more cases of COVID-19 within 28 days will not be able to accept visitors, and some homes are having to adapt new areas to allow for the increase in numbers.

Each resident is now able to nominate two people as their named visitors and these will be able to have ‘contact visits’ separately or at the same time. A contact visit is one in which the visitors and resident sit together and can hold hands but personal protective equipment (PPE) of masks, aprons and gloves will still be required to be worn (and visors subject to an assessment by the home).

It is possible for a person under the age of 18 to be a named visitor and children under the age of two can join the visit and will not be counted as an additional visitor.

Children under the age of 11 do not need to wear PPE and children under three must not wear a mask for safety reasons. However, all visitors over the age of 11 will be required to wear a mask, apron and gloves which will be supplied by the home.

Other visitors who are not named visitors will be able to visit and those ‘non-contact visits’ will take place in our screened visitor room or outdoors. A maximum of two visitors will be allowed at any one time unless the additional visitor is a child aged two or under.

An onsite test will be required for all visitors over the age of 11 with the consent of their parent or guardian.

Thank you all for your patience and your support. By continuing to work together we are doing our best for resident safety and welfare and helping the country come through these difficult times.