Coronavirus: Visits to care homes in Scotland to resume in July

Care homes in Scotland that are free of coronavirus will be able to accept visitors from 3 July, it has been announced.

Care homes have been badly hit by the virus, accounting for more deaths linked to Covid-19 than hospitals.

But Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said "significant progress" had been made in recent weeks.

She said residents will be able to have one named "key visitor" if their home has been virus-free for 28 days.

They will have to stay outdoors, maintain physical distancing and wear a face mask for the duration of their visit.

Ministers are also working on plans for a "phased reintroduction" of visiting in hospitals, with further details to be announced next week.

The latest data suggests 31% of adult care homes in Scotland currently have at least one suspected case of coronavirus, with 64% having reported one at some point.

The National Records of Scotland have tallied 1,917 deaths in care homes linked to the virus, compared to 1,909 in hospitals, although deaths in all settings have fallen sharply since April.

Ms Freeman said that "care homes are first and foremost people's homes, and it is now important that we find safe ways for residents to reconnect with their families and friends".

She said: "Significant progress is being made and we are continuing to see improvements with fewer care homes currently having an infection.

"On that basis, we can now see a phased return to visiting in care homes when and where it is clinically safe to do so."

However, she said it was important to do so with "real caution" to ensure staff and residents are protected.

And she said more visitors would only be allowed when the scientific advice says it is safe to do so.

Ms Freeman has previously pledged a review of social care in Scotland in light of the impact of the virus on care homes, which First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said "will haunt a lot of us for a long time".

There has been criticism of the way many patients were discharged from hospitals into homes in the early days of the pandemic, before the point when compulsory testing was introduced.

Ms Sturgeon has insisted that her government had "done what we thought was best based on the knowledge that we had at the time", but said that applying "hindsight" may have led her to "a different conclusion".

Ms Freeman said on Thursday that it was "crucial" that measures were taken to "protect residents and staff" as restrictions are eased.

Fresh guidance is to be published for homes around visits which will be permitted from 3 July, and how they can "build up" to a final phase which will include "controlled indoor visits and wider use of communal areas by residents".