The Provincial Council of Bizkaia has sent instructions to all residential centers for the elderly so that Visiting elderly residents, with restrictions to maintain sanitary guarantees.

The permission has been granted to the extent that, through diagnostic tests, the centers are determining the risk of contagion that may exist in contact with each person.

Users have been divided into three groups, depending on the status of the resident, not the visitor: no symptoms, with disease or symptoms, and those who have already passed it.

The first group is that of healthy people without symptoms and not classified as close contact: for them the visit of one person once a week, in a previously programmed way, outside the area of ​​habitability of other people, with protection measures and preferably always with the same person from outside.

The visits will be controlled, they will be carried out by people who are not in the risk groups, and with the use of the necessary protective equipment (PPE for visits).

What’s more, there will be no direct physical communication between the visit and the resident person, installing a separation by means of a methacrylate lampshade.

The second case is that of people living with COVID-19, people with symptoms pending testing and people classified as close contact. For these users no visits will be made, except in exceptional situations.

Finally, the third group is the unit with people who have overcome the disease and already have a negative test (PCR), where the visit of one person once a week.

The visits will be carried out in the same way as in the first case, that is, in a previously scheduled way, outside the area of ​​habitability of the rest of the residents, with the protection measures (PPE included) and preferably with the same person from outside. The difference is that in this case physical contact will be allowed, as long as the corresponding protective equipment is used.

The Provincial Council recalled that visits to residential centers can be carried out in the following cases: the first, end-of-life care situations, where families must be provided with the possibility of contact with the resident person.

Also cognitive situations that make it impossible to understand the situation or the use of alternative means of contact with close people, and finally, psycho-emotional situations where professionals consider that damage to the well-being of the resident derived from isolation should be avoided. .

In any case, the general suspension of visits for residents with COVID-19 or with symptoms remains in effect.