Visitors will soon be able to trickle into nursing homes in Florida to see their loved ones after months of separation.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, announced on Tuesday that he would be lifting a ban on visits to nursing homes that had been in place since March to help curb the deadly spread of the coronavirus. While some regulations on visitors will remain, DeSantis said he hopes the policies will relieve some of the loneliness suffered by elderly people who have been separated from their families.
“On anything you do, there’s going to be some risk, so we understand that, but we really believe that you can mitigate this risk by what the task force has recommended and by what we will require. But you have to weigh that risk, and I think it is a small risk, against the certain harm of prolonged isolation,” DeSantis said.
The policy change, which will take effect on Tuesday afternoon, mandates that all visits be by appointment only. Visitors will be asked to detail any coronavirus symptoms they have had and whether they’ve been in any large groups prior to the visit.
Facilities will be limited to two visitors at a time with no minor children allowed. Facilities will only be allowed to accept visitors if they have no COVID-19 cases in residents or staff for more than 14 days.
DeSantis acknowledged that elderly people are the most likely demographic to have a fatal coronavirus infection but argued that many of these individuals only have a little time left with their families. He got choked up while discussing how difficult it was to forbid elderly patients from seeing their families during the pandemic.
“Human beings seek affection, that you have family members who, and many of the folks understand, that they have loved ones who are in the last stage of their life. They’re not demanding a medical miracle, they’re not having unrealistic expectations. They just would like to be able to say goodbye or to hug somebody … I think it’s difficult to think that some of our actions may have prevented [that],” he said.
