Indoor visitation now allowed at Colorado assisted living centers

Cindy Koch spoke with FOX31 Denver after the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment released the new guidelines for visiting loved ones at assisted living centers.

DENVER (KDVR) — The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has released new guidelines for visiting loved ones at assisted living centers.

Those guidelines call for masks, social distancing and temperature checks at the door.

In certain cases, visitors will also be required to receive a negative COVID-19 test within 48 hours of entering.

Staff and residents will also be required to undergo additional testing.

“There’s still a lot of unknowns, but the fact that we’re moving forward is great,” says Corky Kyle.

Kyle is the CEO of the Colorado Assisted Living Association, which represents dozens of assisted living centers statewide.

“Children want to go see their mom and dad, and they want to know that they’re well,” he says. “Other than telephone calls and maybe looking through a plexiglass screen, it hasn’t been available.”

But others in the industry are worried the guidelines aren’t realistic.

“They’re too strict,” said Cindy Koch. “If we had somewhere where you could just pop down and get a 48-hour test, great. But that’s not reality.”

Koch owns Aging at 5280, which helps place seniors in assisted living centers.

She is worried testing requirements will be too expensive for struggling care facilities to pull off.

“They’re not realistic right now. Our senior living communities cannot afford to test at that high level,” Koch said.

It will be up to individual centers to decide if they want to institute indoor visitation.

The state recommends scheduling your visit well in advance to allow for proper safety measures.

Original article from KDVR.com »