CARE homes in Gwent won’t be “open all hours”, now Wales has entered Covid-19 alert level zero, a leading figure in the region’s social care sector has revealed.

From today, Saturday, a large number of restrictions in Wales will ease.

While changes to nightclub openings and indoor meetings have dominated headlines, the limit on the number of people able to visit a care home at any time is also being lifted.

Up until now, and since May 24, anyone has been able to arrange a care home visit, though only two people have been allowed to attend at the same time.

But, while this restriction has been lifted, it may not result in too much of a change in the local area.

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While Mary Wimbury, the chief executive of Care Forum Wales, welcomed the announcement by Welsh Government as a signal that life was slowly returning to something like normality – she warned that the safety and wellbeing of residents remains the number one priority.

Though the limit has been removed, it is essentially down to the individual care homes and care providers to determine who can visit, and when.

Care home residents will also be able to nominate an "essential visitor" who will be able to continue to visit them indoors, if an outbreak is confirmed - so long as they return a negative covid test.

Statement from Care Forum Wales in full

In a statement sent to the Argus, Ms Wimbury said: “The successful rollout of the vaccine is clearly having a positive impact which is great news after the nightmare of the past 18 months.

“We therefore welcome the gradual move towards normalisation and we look forward to that happening for the benefit of residents and staff alike.

“There are still requirements for visitors to care homes to undertake lateral flow tests and wear PPE in order to protect vulnerable residents

“Given this, the guidance recognises that care homes have practical constraints on how many visitors or how many visits they can accommodate safely.

“Families will have to appreciate the balance that care homes seek between safety of the home and visiting. Visiting policies will be revised for each setting, taking into account their staffing, layout and other available resources.

South Wales Argus: Mary Wimbury, the chief executive of Care Forum WalesMary Wimbury, the chief executive of Care Forum Wales

“It is imperative that we do not throw caution to the wind because Covid-19 has not gone away and we are still in the throes of a third wave of the virus.

“We must remain vigilant and careful because the so-called Delta variant is clearly more transmissible.

“While virtually every care home resident and member of staff has now had two jabs, it is important to remember that the vaccine does not provide 100 per cent protection.

“According to Professor David John Spiegelhalter, an eminent expert on understanding risk, a vaccinated 80 year old has the same risk as an unvaccinated 50 year old, so the risk has not gone away.

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“It is therefore important to point out that individual care homes will have to assess the risk, depending on a number of factors before deciding what type and extent of visits can go ahead.

“Care homes are naturally cautious given that new insurance policies explicitly exclude cover for Covid outbreaks and unlike the NHS care homes do not have a government indemnity over this.

“It would be unrealistic to expect care homes to be open all hours at this point.

“The safety and wellbeing of residents and staff will always be the number one priority of care  homes and that will be their guiding principle.”