Hello Families and Friends

Current COVID-19 guidelines in Long Term Care and Assisted Living Communities are being revised provincially effective April 1^st, 2021. Dr. Bonnie Henry, Provincial Health Officer delivered an update today with province wide changes to current restrictions including changes to the visitor guidelines.

Starting April 1^st, the following changes will be put into place:

• All residents will be allowed regular, frequent, and routine opportunities for social visitation
• Visits must allow for a minimum of 60 minutes (they must be booked in advance). This means visits cannot be scheduled less than one hour before the closing of visiting hours. If visiting hours end at 8pm, the last booking available will be 7pm.
• We would ask that during the initial stage of this re-opening, you consider other families and residents trying to book visits as well and limit the on-site visits to one per week.
• Number of visits per day to the community will be designed to continue to meet operational health and safety requirements in keeping with the sanitization and screening guidelines.
• We encourage families to be considerate about the duration to allow capacity for more residents to have visits in the community
• Visits will be scheduled in one hour blocks with a suggested maximum of 2 blocks per resident visit
• Visitors are permitted to bring pets. If possible we do suggest these to be outside visits for the enjoyment of both the resident as well as the pet.
• The “single designated social visitor” restriction will be removed, allowing additional family and friends to visit
• The number of visitors will be expanded, allowing up to two visitors, plus a child (defined as 18 or younger) at any one time
• Visits will be allowed to be made in the resident’s room, a designated visiting space, or on outings with no requirement for isolation afterwards. On outings, residents will be offered a mask before exiting
• Visitors will be asked only to visit with one resident at a time, and to limit their group activities.
• Physical contact—including hugging—will be allowed, provided visitors wear a mask and follow proper infection control procedures (e.g. hand hygiene and cough etiquette)
• Removing physical distancing requirements between residents
• Resuming resident communal dining and small group social or recreational activities for residents, within a facility unit or floor
• Removing requirement for 14-day isolation for admissions into the facility, and providing immunizations if needed

To book your visit please email jberrisford@retirementconcepts.com or call 250-404-4400 Appointments are required. No drop ins.