Concerns persist as Quebec caregivers granted access to senior’s homes, but not in all cases

Beverly Spanier is finding it very difficult to get through the days.

The resident at the Donald Berman Maimonides Geriatric Centre in Côte-Saint-Luc is no longer allowed to have caregivers spend time and look after her.

She had hired several for more than 70 hours a week, but none of them are permitted inside since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I believe that we should allow the caregivers in and have them tested at the door when they come. Check their temperature. Talk to them,” Spanier told Global News on the phone from her home.

She says while staff are doing all they can to care for the residents, there aren’t enough health-care workers available.

“The government needs to hire sufficient workers to run the operation, otherwise you’re just hosing your seniors and they’ll have zero quality of life,” she said.

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The government is allowing caregivers to visit long-term care facilities (CHSLD) but it’s a case-by-case basis and depends on the region.

“It’s possible now for caregivers to go in, but as much as they don’t put themselves in risk and that the situation is stable in the CHSLD,” Health Minister Danielle McCann said Thursday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Montreal remains a hotspot for confirmed cases of COVID-19 and many of the infected are living in nursing homes.

Nineteen senior’s residences in the greater Montreal area have confirmed cases of 50 per cent or more.

The Maimonides home reports 11 residents with COVID-19, representing three per cent of the total number of people living there.

Rebecca Freedman hasn’t seen her 84-year-old father since the pandemic outbreak in March, but she supports restricting access, arguing it’s the best way to keep her father safe and everyone else.

“The risk would be much higher for the rate of infection and mortality,” she told Global News via Skype.

The premier repeated Thursday that Quebecers are living two different situations — one in long-term care facilities and the other among the general population.

Until the curve starts flattening in nursing homes, many caregivers will likely remain stuck on the outside looking in.