Care home residents in England can be visited indoors by a single named individual and hold hands, from Monday 8 March as part of easing lockdown restrictions.
Every resident will have the opportunity to name one individual, who will be required to have a test beforehand, wear PPE during the visit and avoid close contact. This visitor will be able to hold hands indoors with their relative or contact in a care home, and make repeat visits.
Close contact care will be restricted to visitors who provide assistance – such as help dressing, eating or washing – which is essential to the immediate health and wellbeing of a resident. Existing guidance already enables these visits under exceptional circumstances.
Additional arrangements include the following:
- There will be discretion for care homes to allow more than one named visitor in exceptional circumstances
- Home testing of single named visitors will not be allowed during the start of the scheme but will be reviewed
- Vaccination is not mandatory and will not be a condition of visiting
- Visiting will be suspended during local outbreaks in individual homes
- Rules and guidance for visiting outside remain unchanged.
Further guidance will be published before the launch of the single named visitor scheme on 8 March
The government will continue to provide free tests and PPE to support the scheme.
More care home covid stories here.
