Contact with loved ones 'means the world' to Heron Terrace residents in Windsor

After more than a year of strong pandemic restrictions at long-term care and retirement facilities in Ontario, high vaccination rates mean residents can take a step toward normal life.

The provincial government issued a new directive last week that cleared the way for residents to resume some of the activities they weren't permitted to take part in due to COVID-19 infection prevention policies.

While measures such as mask policies are still in place, the new rules mean residents can eat together, have organized indoor social activities and even hug their essential caregivers, among other changes.

On CBC Radio's Windsor Morning, Amy Sworik, administrator at Heron Terrace long-term care home in east Windsor, shed light on what the news means to residents.

Communal dining is resuming this week and next, with Plexiglas barriers in place.

Vaccinated essential caregivers are now allowed to hug loved ones, hold hands and sit closer to them.

"That means the world to our residents. We know we are constantly balancing their physical, their mental, their social, and their medical needs, and this has really brought an additional layer of getting back to some more normalcy," she said Tuesday.

Residents had already been permitted to have some activities in small groups.

"Our residents welcome coming out to their small groups and their programs to see each other, to get out on their patios, whether it's to suntan or join an arts and craft or for music therapy, or even just completing their nursing rehab and physio outdoors or out in one of the lounge areas," she said.

"Some of them, though, have shared that they can't wait to get out for a drive with their loved ones."

Heron Terrace was hit hard in the first wave of the pandemic. Last year, the facility suffered an outbreak involving more than 100 cases of COVID-19 among residents and staff. Twenty-five people died.

Everything been cleared since June, with no other outbreaks.

At Heron Terrace, 96 per cent of residents are fully vaccinated, along with 57 per cent of staff and essential caregivers. Eightly-six per cent of staff have received one dose, according to Sworik.

Across Windsor-Essex, the vast majority of seniors in Windsor-Essex have been vaccinated. For those over 80, the proportion is 93.3 per cent.