Some Assisted Living Communities Start to Allow Visitation as Morale of Residents Drops

Some assisted-living communities in Louisiana are beginning to allow visits amid declining morale among residents isolated to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, reports WAFB 9 News Baton Rouge . Governor John Bel Edwards announced that only parishes with less than a 5 percent positivity rate for the virus would qualify to have communities open to visitors during Phase 3 of Louisiana's reopening. Lake Sherwood Retirement Community owner Neil Juneau said allowing visitation became necessary because residents' morale was very low, and this was permitted because the community is privately owned and unlicensed, freeing it from state mandates. "Family members would come and they would talk through a window and then we started letting them get out of their apartments," he explained. Juneau on Friday added that retirees are now allowed to start having one designated family member visit during certain times of the day — and they also could start leaving the community, with limits. "We don't allow any of our residents to go to any public venue like a grocery store or a salon or anything like that," he said. For parishes that can meet the requirements for state-licensed nursing community reopenings, Edwards said the state is developing a pilot program through the Louisiana Department of Health.