BARRIE, ONT. -- For families across the region, the province's announcement that indoor visits would soon be possible at long-term care homes comes as welcome news.
This after months of closed doors to visitors to stop the threat of COVID-19.
Kristina Clarke hasn't seen her mother, Lynn, in person since mid-March.
"Eighteen weeks, I'll never get back, and for me, it's like I've been mourning her death and yet she's still alive," Clarke said.
Clarke's mother is 90, and, like many in long-term care homes, she lives with Alzheimer's. Clarke said that with a mask on and meeting from a distance, her mother often doesn't recognize her, and virtual meetings offer little consolation for those deprived of human contact.
"Mentally, this will help her start to gain that security back that I haven't just dropped her off and left her," Clarke said.
Related Article: Barrie long-term care home creates safe space for family visitations
Dianne Ierullo was nearly in tears as she learned the news today.
She has visited her mother Bernice through plexiglass and hopes that by next week, she'll be able to visit her inside Grove Park Home in Barrie.
"I don't know if we will be able to hug, but at least being in her room with her, yeah, we need to see each other," Ierullo said.
The home is now waiting for guidance from the government on how to reopen to visitors safely.
"Of course, that will probably be a very controlled and safe manner, but we're going to be happy to see some of the family members. They're part of our family too," said Paul Taylor, Grove Park Home executive director.
Grove Park, which is home to more than 140 residents, is virus-free.
It has offered meetings with loved ones outside or through windows, and virtually, to protect everyone inside from infection.
Long-term care facilities have one week to ensure they are ready for visitors indoors.
Effective immediately, Ontario is allowing two people at a time to visit a loved one at a long-term care home outside the facility without having to take a COVID-19 test.
Beginning on July 22, indoor visits would be permitted for up to two people per resident at a time. Indoor visits will require a COVID-19 test to be done.
