Age Scotland welcomes calls for Covid tests for care home visitors

Scotland's leading charity for older people has given its backing to a call for relatives visiting loved ones in care homes to be tested for coronavirus in order to minimise the risk of spreading the infection.

Age Scotland warmly welcomed the Scottish Government announcement on Monday that families are to be allowed longer visits indoors to see relatives in case homes after enduring very limited contact with residents for the past seven months.

But the charity has repeated its calls that care homes, which have been hit extremely hard by the virus, must be given all the necessary resources to ensure visits can take place safely to protect residents and staff.

Responding to a call from Renaissance Care, which operates 15 care homes in Scotland, to introduce weekly tests for visitors, Brian Sloan, chief executive of Age Scotland, said:

“Increasing family visiting, indoors and being able to touch and hold hands will be of huge benefit to the health and wellbeing of care home residents. It is something which they cherish and have missed for so many months.

“We have repeatedly said that it is absolutely vital for care homes to be given every resource they need in order to do this safely. Protecting people from this virus and preventing new outbreaks in care homes must also be a central part of these new guidelines.

“We are really pleased that Renaissance Care are keen to see visiting resume and we support their calls for family members to be included in a national testing programme. It’s a practical, proportionate and sensible step which will ensure that these visits are a source of joy, rather than something which causes additional stress to residents and staff.”