PEOPLE may be able to visit loved ones in care homes across Wales by March 13, the deputy health minister has said.
Julie Morgan said the Welsh Government is considering allowing a single, designated visitor per resident as part of a package of measures.
She said the Welsh Government has worked with local authorities and Public Health Wales in setting a target date, for a sector she described as “the most difficult to try and achieve balance between protecting people’s physical health and emotional wellbeing”.
Care home residents in England will be allowed one regular visitor from March 8, while in Scotland care home residents can pick two visitors who can each attend inside once a week.
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In a statement on Thursday evening, Ms Morgan said: “My intention is that we should be able to announce that routine indoor visiting by a single, designated visitor will be able to resume from March 13, as part of the package of wider measures being considered for the three-week review.
“The latest data shows that cases of coronavirus in the community have fallen to around 53 cases per 100,000 people however, the highly infectious Kent strain of the virus is now the dominant strain of the virus in Wales.”
Information from Care Inspectorate Wales shows the number of care homes to declare cases of Covid-19 is also falling.
There were 173 (16.5 per cent) adult care homes in Wales with one or more confirmed cases of Covid-19 in staff or residents in the past 20 days – 6.2 per cent down on the last report two weeks earlier.
Ms Morgan added: “We have always emphasised the importance of a risk-assessed approach. Public Health Wales will be leading a webinar for the sector next week about risk assessments, with a particular focus on visits.
“Throughout the pandemic, care home providers have strived to maintain contact between their residents and their families, while operating within the wider restrictions in place.
“This has not been easy and I applaud their hard work and innovation.”
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