Memorial Manor opens back up for visitation, guests

Published 9:33 am Wednesday, October 20, 2021

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For those with elder family members, the pandemic took a toll on relationships, with some families losing elderly relatives, and many others feeling forced to keep their distance in order to keep their relatives safe. However, Memorial Manor has now decided to allow regular visiting hours to resume for their residents, in light of declining COVID numbers.

Bridgett Olds, Director of Infection Prevention at Memorial Manor, spoke on the decision.

“That decision was based on our numbers here, how many positive cases we have here at the facility,” she said. “At that time, we had one COVID resident. We had just completed an outbreak, and when we have an outbreak, we can’t have any visitors in the building.”

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According to Olds, two positive cases is considered an outbreak.

The current visiting hours are only subject to change should the Manor have another outbreak.

“If the county rates get way above ten percent, we probably will temporarily close back down,” Olds said.

“It’s been difficult for the residents, and the families and the employees,” she continued, “especially for the residents, because when they’re isolated they get depressed.”

There are currently 73 residents in the Manor, with the Manor having had to deal with 71 cases since the pandemic started.

“Get vaccinated,” Olds said, “Let’s get back to normal, as normal as we can get.”

Current visiting hours for the Manor are their usual hours, no appointment necessary. Masks and screening are required, and social distancing is still encouraged; anyone showing symptoms or having been recently exposed to a COVID positive person is encouraged to not visit.