HEALTH Secretary Jeane Freeman has announced that visiting restrictions in Scotland’s care homes are to be relaxed.

So what is the new guidance and how does it compare with the rules to date?

Under the previous advice, just one person was able to visit loved ones in care homes and for no longer than for half an half indoors.

However, the Scottish Government guidance published yesterday allows for more people to be able to make visits.

Up to six people from two households including children and young people will be able to pay visits of up to one hour, while indoor visits will also be extended from 30 minutes to four hours.

Freeman said: “Having spoken to care home relatives, I know how much they appreciate and will comply with these infection prevention measures, precisely because of the love they have for their family member.”

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The changes will require planning by care homes so will be implemented once care homes are satisfied that they can be accommodated safely, alongside existing safety measures such as the weekly testing offered to all care home staff, and sample testing in homes with no cases.

The new guidance also supports increased personal interaction, including hugs or hand holding, as long as strict PPE and infection prevention control measures are met.

These include:

- Personal interaction: visitors can support personal care and daily routine activities, provided this is agreed with the care home and takes place in residents’ rooms

- Touch: enabling contact with loved ones with regular training and supervision for visitors to put on and take off PPE and safety guidelines

- Family pets and therapy animals: during outdoor and indoor visiting, if agreed with the care home, and certain pre-conditions are met

- Gifts and residents’ belongings: these can be brought in by visitors when agreed with the care home manager in advance

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To implement the new measures, care homes must be Covid-free for 28 days and must be taking part in the weekly staff testing programme.

The Scottish Government is to continue to keep the guidance under review.

Older people are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus.

According to the latest National Records of Scotland (NRS) figures, released in mid-September, there have been a total of 4236 deaths registered in Scotland where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

Some 46% of Covid-19 deaths registered to date related to deaths in care homes, while 46% of deaths were in hospitals and 7% of deaths were at home or non-institutional settings. Many homes experienced the multiple deaths of residents.

An update on the NRS data is to due to be be published tomorrow.