France to allow COVID-19 positive elderly care home residents to meet family for Christmas

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, while millions across the globe were practising social distancing and protecting the more vulnerable lot from the highly-infectious disease, the elderly care home residents  were forced to suffer loneliness throughout the year, especially in France. Therefore, in a bid to provide them with a breather from the secluded life, the French government has reportedly decided to give them more freedom for the upcoming holidays in December by allowing them to spend quality time with their families and receive visits even if they are COVID-19 positive.

The French government announced the relaxed rules on December 12 that will be applicable from December 15 to January 3 (local time). The deputy health minister in charge of elderly affairs tweeted that promoting the spirit of Christmas into the care homes in the country is “essential” in order to maintain family ties and combat the loneliness that dominated most of 2020 for the residents. 

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Over 57,500 COVID-19 deaths in care home

However, French President Emmanuel Macron’s government decided to let COVID-19 positive patients meet with their families during the holidays after over 57,500 deaths due to coronavirus infections have occurred in the elderly care homes. In the wake of the global health crisis, the residents were reportedly subjected to stringent confinement measures such as being limited to their rooms to flatten the infection curve. 

While the residents who have tested positive will be allowed to receive only up to two visitors in their room, others who haven’t contracted the disease will be permitted to be out again and spend time with their families and friends. The French government laid out the relaxed visitation rules for the December holidays in a six-page document that even said that they are applicable to homes with COVID-19 positive residents. 

As per reports, the rules said that the care home residents “like the rest of the population, should benefit from the possibility to spend the end of year holidays in the company of their loved ones."

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Image/Inputs: AP