{"id":50564,"date":"2020-11-06T13:14:27","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T20:14:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/will-in-person-visits-be-possible-this-winter-at-nursing-homes\/"},"modified":"2020-11-06T20:14:27","modified_gmt":"2020-11-06T20:14:27","slug":"will-in-person-visits-be-possible-this-winter-at-nursing-homes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/will-in-person-visits-be-possible-this-winter-at-nursing-homes\/","title":{"rendered":"Will in-person visits be possible this winter at nursing homes?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Dwayne
Dwayne and Cheryl Howell visit with parents Chuck and June Howell, who are residents at Four Corners Health Care in Durango. Family members are not allowed to visit loved ones inside the facility.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

They couldn\u2019t hug, but at least they could see each other through the window.<\/p>\n

\u201cI put my hand up against the window, and she put her hand up against it,\u201d said Allyn Lewis, describing visits with her 94-year-old mother this spring at Four Corners Health Care Center in Durango. \u201cIt\u2019s hard not to hug her, but if hugging her made her sick, we can\u2019t do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The coronavirus pandemic has affected life in different ways for most Americans. But perhaps one of the toughest examples of that is at nursing homes, where residents were sealed off from their friends and families as facilities tried to protect residents from the coronavirus.<\/p>\n

Gradually, some of those restrictions lifted. In Colorado, outdoor visits reopened midsummer, followed by indoor visitation in September. Now nursing homes face two more challenges: outdoor visits will become less desirable during the winter, and indoor visits are contingent on control of the virus.<\/p>\n

And COVID-19 cases are rising.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re keeping our fingers crossed and hoping it (indoor visits) happens. If not, we\u2019ll go back to the Zoom calls,\u201d said Dwayne Howell, whose mother and father, both 90, live at Four Corners Health Care Center. \u201cIt\u2019s not only important for them to see us, it\u2019s important for us to see them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dwayne
Dwayne and Cheryl Howell visit Dwayne&#x2019;s parents, Chuck and June Howell, who are residents at Four Corners Health Care in Durango.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Because of rising cases in communities, it is more difficult for skilled-care facilities to meet Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment criteria for indoor visitation.<\/p>\n

For example, the facility must be located in a county with an average of 25 or fewer new, active cases per 100,000 people during the previous 14 days.<\/p>\n

La Plata County had an average of 128 cases per 100,000 people during the last two weeks. At that level, visitors must test negative for COVID-19 within 48 hours of their visit time in order to see family members, according to CDPHE criteria. If the two-week average rises above 175 cases per 100,000 people, indoor visits aren\u2019t allowed at all.<\/p>\n

Without indoor visits, families will have to return to the remote options they relied on in the early months of the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Back then, Howell used Zoom to talk to his parents. For a month, they didn\u2019t have any contact at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were very lonely, I think,\u201d Howell said.<\/p>\n

\"Dwayne
Dwayne and Cheryl Howell long for the day when they can hug Dwayne&#x2019;s parents, Chuck and June Howell. Until then, they hope they can visit their loved ones inside the facility during the winter.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

At Cottonwood Inn in Durango, Karen Bell and her husband would set up chairs outside of her mother\u2019s window and talk on their cellphones.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause my mother is quite old, the whole thing is confusing for her,\u201d Bell said.<\/p>\n

The limitations, however, kept residents healthy. As of Friday, no skilled-care facilities in Southwest Colorado had reported outbreaks, defined as two or more COVID-19 cases within 14 days. Families said that success made the restrictions worth it.<\/p>\n

During outdoor visits this summer, residents and their loved ones wore masks, went through screening and sat 6 feet apart under tents.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust being able to tell them that you love them face to face, that helps. I look forward to the day when we\u2019ll be able to hug them \u2026 and tell them things are going to be OK,\u201d said Cheryl Howell, Dwayne\u2019s wife. \u201cYou long for those days.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Colorado reopened to indoor visits, the state released seven pages outlining six criteria that facilities had to meet. In addition to low community transmission, facilities must meet requirements for testing, personal protective equipment and staffing.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing\u2019s been easy during this pandemic,\u201d said Annaliese Impink, Four Corners spokeswoman. \u201cI think Four Corners staff is doing the best they can to reopen, at least outdoors, and let families see loved ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dwayne
Dwayne and Cheryl Howell visit Dwayne&#x2019;s parents at Four Corners Health Care Center in Durango. &#x201c;You know that COVID is bad. But, in my heart, I wonder if loneliness is worse,&#x201d; Cheryl Howell said.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

As winter approaches, families are cherishing their last outdoor visits.<\/p>\n

The Howells turned on iTunes so Dwayne\u2019s mom could sing along with the songs. Lewis brought her dog and mementos to share with her mother.<\/p>\n

Bell sent flowers and brought her computer so her mom could visit with her kids and 101-year-old sister on her birthday.<\/p>\n

They long for the chance to hug, touch and care for their family members.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of her age \u2026 I really do hope that a vaccine is available to both of us before it\u2019s too late,\u201d Bell said. \u201cThat sounds kind of morbid, but that\u2019s what we\u2019re dealing with.\u201d<\/p>\n

smullane@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

weather could put an end to outdoor gatherings<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50565,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[685,13,28,29,668,687],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-50564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-coronavirus-covid-19","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter","tag-public-health","tag-senior-citizens"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50564\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50564"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=50564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}