Jean-Claude Meyers, the care home director, said the residents were overjoyed, even though a number of conditions must be met in order to facilitate visits. Staff at the home planned how best to allow visitors while ensuring safety for all.
Meyers explained visitors were obliged to make appointments, and the number of appointments was restricted to seven per day in order to enable safe distancing. As a result, residents have managed to accommodate visitors twice in the week since the restrictions lifted.
The home has set aside two rooms especially for visits. Visitors can come in twos, and the visits last around half an hour, after which the room is disinfected and left empty for another thirty minutes. In the meantime, the second room is used to accommodate another set of guests.
A television crew from RTL was present at the home when Monique and Carlo Scheuren visited their mother. They told RTL it had been difficult to explain to their mother why they could not visit during confinement, in an unprecedented situation. However, they praised staff at the home, who enabled residents to speak to their families using Facetime.
Meyers explained the extended period of time without outside contact had had some unfortunate effects on some of the residents. A number of the pensioners suffering from dementia have struggled to recognise their loved ones now that visits have resumed, although Meyers said this could also be attributed to the mandatory masks worn by the visitors.
Video in Luxembourgish.
