A CO Down care home has installed a `visitor pod' in its lounge so its residents and their loved ones can be reunited after 12 weeks apart.
The 54 residents living in Rathfriland Manor Care Home have been cut off from their relatives since early March due to the Covid-19 pandemic and while some have been able to enjoy video calls, they have not properly seen each other for three months.
As government restrictions begin easing, staff at the home came together to try and brainstorm about how they could reunite their residents with their relatives.
As a result, an idea for a `visitor pod' was born and the home's maintenance manager, Danny Fettis built a large, floor to ceiling perspex barrier on wheels.
From Monday, it will be installed in a lounge in the home.
Visitors can access the home from an outside door in the lounge and they can then sit on one side of the screen while staff will bring their loved one to the other side, with no contact at all between the two.
The home has scheduled a timetable of 20-minute visits and following each, the screen is moved and cleaning of the area is undertaken before the next visitor arrives.
Rachel McCaffrey, manager of Rathfriland Manor, said the last 12 weeks had been "really difficult" for the residents.
"We started with Skype and then moved on to Zoom calls and we have been doing that all along," she said.
"We all got thrown into this very quickly.
"It's not the same as some of residents have sensory difficulties.
"In the nursing home world, because coronavirus is still there and there is no vaccine and our people are in the most vulnerable group, we are realising this is going to be around for the rest of the year."
Ms McCaffrey said the home had now sent out letters to families and had begun setting up appointments, with 10 visits due to take place a day.
"It is created on wheels so when visitors leave, it will sanitised," she said.
"We have tried to tailor it to our residents. We are excited and our residents are currently very excited about seeing everyone again. People have missed the face-to-face and our residents are very much looking forward to that."
