Inslee announces phased approach to reopening Washington long-term care facilities to visitors
Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday announced a phased approach to reopening Washington's long-term care facilities to visitors amid the coronavirus pandemic.
During a news conference Thursday, Inslee said the pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on people living in long-term care facilities, and state officials earlier this year had to make the "difficult" but "necessary" decisions to implement restrictions on visitors coming to these facilities.
"That has meant isolation ... and this has been extremely difficult for people in these facilities," Inslee said during the news conference. "That's why I'm very pleased today to say that we have come far enough, both in our restraint in the pandemic and in our ability to develop protocols that will work to continue to protect the physical health of our residents while giving them much greater contact with their loved ones."
Under the new plan, long-term care facilities will be able to reopen to visitors in four phases, which will depend on both what is going on both inside and outside of the facilities. In the first phase, long-term care facilities are allowed to have compassionate care visits, window visits, remote visits and outdoor visits, which are limited to two a day.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/inslee-announces-phased-approach-to-reopening-washington-long-term-care-facilities-to-visitors/ar-BB17Fbsm?ocid=hplocalnews
