{"id":26789,"date":"2020-06-18T19:01:13","date_gmt":"2020-06-18T23:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=26789"},"modified":"2020-06-25T09:10:39","modified_gmt":"2020-06-25T13:10:39","slug":"ontario-lifts-restrictions-on-long-term-care-visits-encourages-social-circles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/ontario-lifts-restrictions-on-long-term-care-visits-encourages-social-circles\/","title":{"rendered":"Ontario lifts restrictions on long-term care visits, encourages social circles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Ontario Government has begun lifting restrictions on visits\nto long-term care homes, retirement homes and other residential care settings,\nas public health units across the Province continue to post encouraging\nfigures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government announced Thursday that strict health and\nsafety guidelines will be required to protect residents, visitors and staff\nalike as families prepare to spend time with their loved ones again after more\nthan two months apart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThanks to the hard work of our frontline workers and the\ncollective efforts of everyone in stopping the spread, we can now allow\nfamilies to reunite with their loved ones safely and in person with strict public\nhealth measures to protect residents, visitors and staff,\u201d said Premier Doug\nFord. \u201cBut, I ask everyone to be cautious and act [responsibly] as the battle\nto contain COVID-19 is not over and the risk to our loved ones still remains.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of this Thursday, June 18, family and friends will be\nallowed to visit these settings provided the residence in question is not in\nactive outbreak mode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retirement homes will be able to resume indoor and\noutdoor visits in designated areas or residential suites when physical\ndistancing can be maintained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other residential care settings will be allowed outdoor\nvisits of two people at a time with physical distancing required for all\nvisits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All visitors will be subject to new protocols, including\npassing active screening every time they visit, confirming with staff they have\ntested negative for COVID-19 within the previous two weeks, and complying with\nthe infection prevention and control protocols in place, including the bringing\nand wearing of face coverings during visits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long-term care homes must also do their part by having an\nestablished process in place for communicating visitor protocols and associated\nsafety procedures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the COVID-19 outbreak within the walls of Chartwell\nAurora (formerly Resthaven) remains closed, the Region of York announced Friday\na twelfth Chartwell Aurora resident had succumbed to the virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Patrick Casey, Director of Corporate\nCommunications for the Region of York, the resident in question was an\n85-year-old woman who lost the fight Tuesday, June 9, at Southlake Regional\nHealth Centre. She displayed symptoms on Tuesday, April 21 and tested positive\non Thursday, April 23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her death brings the number of COVID-19-related deaths\nwithin Aurora to 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At press time, there were a total of 12 active cases\nwithin Aurora and 84 cases deemed resolved and recovered for a total of 111\nconfirmed cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Region-wide, as of Tuesday evening, there are 391 active\ncases, 235 deaths, and 2,173 recoveries, for a total of 2,799.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As family and friends of residents in long-term care and\nretirement residences prepare for a return to some degree of normalcy, the\nProvince is also encouraging residents at large to develop social circles while\nrestrictions continue to ease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forming a \u201csocial circle\u201d of no more than 10 people who\ncan interact and come into close contact with one another without physical\ndistancing will help reduce social isolation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSocial circles will support the mental health and\nwellbeing of Ontarians and help reduce social isolation,\u201d the Province said\nFriday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Added Premier Ford: \u201cAt the outset of the pandemic, we\nhad to make the necessary, but difficult decision to ban large public\ngatherings and strongly advise [against] physical distancing with everyone\nexcept immediate household members. As the public health trends improve and our\ncollective efforts start to pay off, we’re now able to take another step\nforward today by allowing families and their loved ones to reunite and spend\ntime with one another safely through social circles.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To develop your \u201csocial circle\u201d, the Province advises\nresidents to start with their current circle: \u201cthe people you live with who\nregularly come into your household.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf your current circle is under 10 people, you can add\nmembers to your circle, including those from another household, family members\nor friends,\u201d said the Province. \u201cGet agreement from everyone that they will\njoin the circle. Keep your social circle safe. Maintain physical distancing\nwith anyone outside your circle; and be true to your circle. No one should be\npart of more than one circle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe rules for social circles are different from the\nproposed expansion of social gatherings from five to 10 people. Social\ngatherings can be any 10 people from outside your household, but where physical\ndistancing of at least two metres should be maintained. For example, the\nexpansion of social gatherings enables individuals and families to enjoy the\ncompany of others at backyard barbeques and picnics in neighbourhood parks,\nwhile respecting physical distancing advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn the other hand, social circles will enable Ontarians to enjoy close contact with members of their circle. This could include hugging, carpooling, enjoying a patio and sharing a meal without staying two metres apart. Ontarians should avoid close-contact activities with anyone outside of their circle if they are unable to maintain physical distancing. Social circles will also bring back supports from people outside of their household who can now help with children, seniors or those in need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Ontario Government has begun lifting restrictions on visits to long-term care homes, retirement homes and other residential care settings, as public health units across the Province continue to post encouraging figures. The government announced Thursday that strict health and safety guidelines will be required to protect residents, visitors and staff alike as families prepare […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-6Y5","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-22 17:52:42","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26789\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}