Fresh Mud

It was announced on Friday at the neurological centre I live in that at least one member of staff and one resident have tested positive for COVID-19, and so we have to go into what management like to call “outbreak measures.” This means that only family/friends who are designated “essential caregivers” are allowed in. Plus, staff are back to taking a daily LFT.

Up until about two months ago, any visitor had to either take an LFT on arrival, or provide evidence that they’d taken one within the last 24 hours, before they were allowed entry, but that was recently changed so that only essential caregivers needed to be tested, and then only twice weekly. A few family members and residents, myself included, questioned this as it was not based on the frequency of visits; for example, one resident’s family always visit together, but only the mother, who is the essential caregiver, is ever tested. Doesn’t make sense, right? As one of the ward clerks says: “Test everyone or test no more.”