Manitoba developing outdoor shelters for personal care home visits, indoor visits to start Tuesday

The Manitoba government is working towards building outdoor, all-season shelters near personal care homes, so family and friends can visit during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The news came Monday as Manitoba Health, Seniors and Active Living Minister Cameron Friesen also announced limited indoor visits at personal care homes will be allowed starting Tuesday.

“Starting tomorrow we will be shifting to allow indoor visits with residents of personal care homes,” Friesen said at an 11 a.m. media briefing.

“Virtual visits and outdoor visits are good, but they only go so far.”

Friesen said precautions will be taken during the reopening of visits at personal care homes, including requiring visitors to have health checks before entry and visitors will need to wear non-medical masks.

He said the visits will be designated for family care givers only, and are likely to be held in open, public spaces, not a resident’s personal room.

Health officials gave more details on the plan Monday afternoon.

Chief Nursing Officer for Shared Health Lanette Siragusa said the personal care home visits will be limited to designated visitors who have been approved by individual PCH care teams.

The visits must be scheduled , and visitors will be screened for symptoms and history of travel of COVID-19 exposure before being allowed into the facility.

Siragousa said visitors must maintain social distancing throughout their time in the home.

Friesen stressed the reopening of visits at homes may be restricted again, if needed.

“We’re taking this step because the evidence supports it,” he said.

“But by the same token our decision to curtail those visits in the future will be based on evidence.

“If we see that the numbers are rising we may curtail those, right across the province or we could take a more localized approach — a site-by-site approach — if we see something negative happening.”

Outdoor shelters

As for the shelters, Friesen told media the structures will be accessible, easily cleaned, and protected from the elements for year-round visits.

“Allowing personal care home residents to safely maintain the connections they have with their families and friends during the COVID-19 pandemic is central to their ongoing health and well-being,” said Friesen in a release.

“We are planning ahead by moving forward with the development of all-season shelters, ensuring those needed and valuable visits can remain safe and uninterrupted.”

The province will be asking for feedback on conceptual designs for the structures soon, Friesen added.

In the meantime details  — including what the shelters will look like, how many will be built, and how much provincial funding will be made available — wasn’t made available Monday.

Friesen did indicate the province would pick up the bill for construction and maintenance, but didn’t say how much the plans might cost.

There are 127 care homes across Manitoba.

“They will have to be adjacent to personal care homes, you can’t have residents outside for a long time,” Friesen said.

“They will have to be wheelchair accessible, they will to have very specific heating and ventilation components, they will have to have surfaces that are easily cleanable.”

Feedback on the plan can be made at the government’s website.

Phase 3 reopening underway

The personal care home announcements come a day after Manitoba officially started it’s third phase of reopening amid COVID-19.

Several more restrictions were eased in Manitoba on June 21.

Restaurants and bars no longer have to operate at half capacity, however tables will have to be two metres apart or have a physical barrier in between them. Non-smoking bingo halls and video lottery terminal lounges can also reopen at 50 per cent capacity.

Child care centres and retail stores can return to normal capacity, and people arriving in Manitoba from the other western provinces, northern territories and northwestern Ontario no longer have to self-isolate for 14 days.

Larger public gatherings are also allowed.

Instead of a cap of 25 people indoors and 50 outdoors, people can fill up to 30 per cent of the capacity of any venue as long as they can be split into groups of 50 indoors or 100 outdoors. Each group must be able to enter and exit separately.

On June 1, the province eased a ban on people visiting loved ones in personal care homes. Homes can now offer outdoor visits with a maximum of two guests per resident. Visitors will be screened upon arrival and must practice physical distancing.

Amateur sports and recreation programs, as well as bowling alleys, have been allowed to resume operations.

Elementary and high schools will not reopen this school year.

Manitoba had 314 lab-confirmed positive and probable positive cases as of Monday afternoon.

Health officials said there were 14 active cases in the province while 293 people have recovered.

The number of people who have died from COVID-19 in the province remains seven.

–With files from The Canadian Press

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