Ottawa tells citizens to stop visiting their loved ones at long-term care home windows

The city of Ottawa has told families to no longer visit their elderly loved ones at their windows in long-term care homes in order to ensure "physical distancing."

Dean Lett, the director of long-term housing for the city of Ottawa, said that the decision "is based on prioritizing the safety and health of residents and staff. We have experienced a number of situations where families have visited and have not respected the requirement for physical distancing as directed through public health agencies."

The Ottawa Citizen reports that "city-run homes have deployed additional staff and increased access to technology to assist residents to keep in touch with their loved ones through Skype, phone calls, emails and letters."

Ottawans with elderly loved ones are not happy with the new rules by the city. One resident with a 93-year-old mother in a long-term care home told the Citizen, "I am quite dismayed that interacting by just looking at one another through a window is not permissible when these people are so very, very isolated and really see no one but caregivers."

"With the effects that we have seen the virus have on long-term care homes across the country, we have a responsibility to do everything possible to minimize the risks of COVID-19 from entering the homes and to protect the safety of residents and staff," Lett said.

Ottawa operates four long-term care homes: Carleton Lodge, Centre d’accueil Champlain, Garry J. Armstrong and Peter D. Clark.