Rest homes are doing what they can to ensure their residents can see their loved ones safely after a hard year for elderly Kiwis, many of whom have been isolated due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Christmas Eve visits were complete with festive accessories and, of course, masks.
At the Edmund Hillary Retirement Village in Auckland' 97-year-old Winifred Brown can only have two people visiting at a time.
“It is different. Now we have to stop - vaccine pass - show them - temp check and we have to book online, you book your appointment but it's only a half hour slot,” Brown’s daughter, Maureen Reed, said.
As the Delta outbreak continues, rest homes have careful guidelines they need to adhere to.
“That's all in the interests in protecting the health and wellbeing of everyone in that rest home,” Aged Care Association New Zealand’s chief executive Simon Wallace said.
Also front of mind is how isolated elderly Kiwis have been.
“It’s been particularly bad in Auckland over the last four months and now we've moved to the traffic light system, we can make visits happen and we're really encouraging family to come to see their loved ones,” Wallace said.
“We're going to do everything that we can to make that happen.”
The owner of Ambridge Rose Manor in Auckland's Pakuranga, Allan Sargeant, was feeling the emotional toll.
“Christmas is a time for family. It's tough, you know - we feel it. This could be the last Christmas that some of these residents have with their family and their loved ones and it's important they share those times and be able to give family members a hug,” he said.
Over 100 people live at Ambridge Road Manor and staff are finding the strict protocols tough.
“You try and tell a five-year-old they've got to keep a 1 metre distance. Human nature is what it is; we have to sometimes turn a blind eye to it cause it's got to happen,” Sargeant said.
He says residents are able to leave the rest home.
“There's no requirement for them to be tested or isolate on return, and that's putting huge pressure on us as we've got a duty of care. We're trying to protect the vulnerable people in our society,” he said.
He feels they don't have the resource to do so, however.
“I'd love to test everyone coming into the facility - 15-minute rapid antigen tests. We've got some here, we just need more; we need more staff.”
SHARE ME