ERS to welcome back visitors - negative COVID test required
The Government says it is delighted to announce that, following Public Health advice, Elderly Residential Services are now in a position to welcome back visitors to their facilities.
Visits will be allowed to residents at all ERS sites as from Tuesday 15th December, strictly adhering to safeguarding criteria.
Visits will be allowed as long as there are no confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in the premises. In line with Public Health recommendations, in the event that more than 1 positive COVID-19 case in a particular ERS site is detected, visiting will be discontinued until the situation is resolved.
All visitors must follow the new protocol before attending an ERS site:
- Visitors must contact the residential floor in order to book a visit
- Visitors will require a negative COVID-19 swab prior to their visit. Please call 200 41818 and identify yourself as an ERS visitor. The swab test will be carried out between 7.30am and 12.00 noon the day before the booked visit.
- Consent will be required by the Drive-Thru for visitors’ NEGATIVE swab results to be notified to ERS management for the sole purpose of safeguarding the residents during their visit.
Visits will be allowed on Tuesdays and Saturdays, at these times:
- 11 am to 12 pm
- 3 pm to 4 pm
- 6 pm to7 pm
This will facilitate cleaning and disinfection of the visiting premises in between visits.
Over the holiday period:
- Visitors will be allowed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
- No visitors will be allowed on Boxing day (26th) through to Monday 28th, included.
- Visits will resume on Tuesday 29th December, with the next visits allowed on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s day.
- Those wishing to visit on the 29th December must be swabbed at the Drive Thru on 28th December.
Minister for Health and Care, Samantha Sacramento, said: ‘Placing Elderly Residential Services on lockdown was a heartbreaking but necessary decision for the safety of residents that was not taken lightly, but it was a necessary decision at the time. The staff at Elderly Residential Services have worked extremely hard to establishing a safe visiting procedure which has required a lot of consultation and coordination with the aim to allow families and friends to visit the residents. I am delighted that we are now in a position to safely welcome back visitors to our residents in time for the holiday period. We must however all remember that there will always be an element of risk and we must impress upon all visitors the importance of strictly observing the rules and ask that they act with caution when visiting for the safety of all.”
