In favorable weather conditions, meetings and events should preferably be organized in the territory of the institution, in the garden or in the gazebo. The condition that clients with acute symptoms of respiratory disease must not participate in the events will remain in force.
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Considering that in Latvia the incidence of Covid-19 is controlled, the MoW in cooperation with the Ministry of Health (MoW), as well as specialists of the Center for Disease Prevention and Control has developed new recommendations for long-term social care and social rehabilitation institutions to apply restrictive measures.
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The Ministry points out that, as a precaution, the management of long-term social care and rehabilitation institutions must optimally balance security measures and residents’ rights to meet their relatives, receive items, go to the store, take short walks, go out collectively or, for example, by organizing sacraments.
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One of the important factors is the meeting with relatives, including the visit of adoptive parents, potential foster families, guardians and host families. This is currently allowed, only during the visit you have to take precautions, ie disinfect your hands, use a face mask and keep yourself away. Visits must also be arranged in advance with the institution’s administration.
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According to the Ministry, care institutions must also be able to communicate remotely, for example by telephone, using the video capabilities of the Whatsapp platform, or in the form of video conferencing using the Zoom or Webex platforms.
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However, the spread of Covid-19 is not yet complete, so precautions to maintain human health will continue to be recommended, given that many residents of a social care institution have a chronic illness and living in a close environment increases the risk of spreading the disease.
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These restrictions may also be exacerbated if the situation worsens due to the spread of Covid-19, as it is important to prevent uncontrolled outbreaks of infectious disease with a high incidence.
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The Ministry notes that the head of each social care institution is responsible for limiting the origin and spread of infectious diseases and organizing work in the institution.
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The mentioned recommendations are published in the section “Covid-19 / Social care institutions” of the MoW website.
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Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health told LETA that the requirements set in social care centers should be stricter than in other institutions, because people who are at high risk of Covid-19 live closely together in these centers for a long time. Social care centers are at high risk of spreading the infection due to high population density and limited staff.
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Covid-19 in these centers can cause difficult-to-control outbreaks with a large number of cases and a significant increase in fatalities, notes VM. At the same time, the rapid spread of the infection in such an institution could place an additional burden on the health sector if there are a large number of patients with a severe course of the disease.
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In order to prevent such risks, additional precautionary measures are recommended for social care centers, which are gradually reduced as the situation improves. Also last week, the MoW sent out updated recommendations to the authorities, which have been agreed with the MoD.
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Following the recommendations provided by the Center for Disease Prevention and Control, so far only one group of clients, a maximum of ten people in total, was allowed to participate in one event in a social care institution, observing all safety measures. Similar restrictions apply to canteens in these establishments.
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