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A visitation ban was introduced in several Norwegian nursing homes when Norway closed in March. This is to protect a particularly vulnerable group from being infected with covid-19. Now, health director Bjørn Guldvog admits that one may have made a mistake in Norway.
– For some residents of nursing homes, I think we have been a bit wrong. But we went quite early in saying that there could not be an absolute interruption of visits and that all residents of nursing homes had to be visited first, says Guldvog to Dagbladet and continues:
– This is of course a difficult balancing act, but now we are in a phase where it is possible to plan it well, so that all who need it can visit it. There should also be some restrictions if you have active outbreaks in the immediate area.
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An exception
In early April, Health Minister Bent Høie announced a major exception to the ban on visiting nursing homes: family members should be able to visit their elderly and infirm when they are seriously ill.
Morgenbladet commentator Aslak Bonde focused on the curfew in May, after his mother died of covid-19. Dagbladet was given permission to reproduce parts of the comment that was posted on Morgenbladet.
“The worst thing was not that she died alone. What really hurts to think is that we could not follow her on the path of death,” he wrote.
Necessary
The Norwegian Health Directorate now states that municipalities can regulate visits to nursing homes and health and care institutions if strictly necessary.
– We must be very careful that a visitor stops at a nursing home. This is because it can include dying people in the last phase of life, who are not allowed to see their loved ones, Guldvog tells Dagbladet and continues:
– I understand that you have to be strict when a very demanding outbreak situation arises, but our opinion is that in many institutions, where there is little infection, it is possible to be quite open to visits – of course with the good infection control measures that It is described both by the National Institute of Public Health and by us. But it is very important not to be too restrictive.
Quality of life
Sweden’s state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell has previously stated that the reason they have recorded so many deaths from COVID-19 is due to the fact that they have failed to protect the elderly and frail. To avoid this, a restraining order was entered into nursing homes in Sweden between April 1 and October 1.
Health director Guldvog points out that the quality of life of those who do not receive visitors must also be taken into account.
– Infection control is one thing, but it goes beyond the quality of life of those who do not receive visitors. This is difficult to balance. Many municipalities do it in a good way.
