Visitor Restrictions Changing At Iowa LTC Facilities

The Iowa Department of Public Health is rolling back some visitor restrictions at long term care facilities.

Of public health is rolling back some visitor restrictions at long term care facilities.

But the rollback is dependent on local guidelines.

Kimt news 3's alex jirgens reached out to a north iowa care facility to see what its plans are going forward.

He joins us live in mason city - alex?xxx lowerthird2line talent coronavirus:alex jirgens ajirgens@kimt.com coverage you can count on katie - here at good shepherd - they've been on virtual lockdown since earlier this year.

The goal being to keep their residents and staff safe.

But now things could be changing.

Care facilities-live vo-1 new guidance from the iowa department of public health - visitor restrictions could be relaxed to allow more indoor visits.

In addition - it would allow more access for quality of life services - like beauticians.

C-e-o ian stockberger says they are considering allowing indoor visits again.

However - he says the facility does not want to coronavirus:ian stockberger ceo, good shepherd health center "we learned a very valuable lesson this summer.

Covid enters these buildilngs and it's not because you're not being safe in the first place.

If there's anything to take away from this, it's absolutely that safety cannot be compromised."

Lowerthird2line talent coronavirus:alex jirgens ajirgens@kimt.com coverage you can count on again - this is all dependent on the positivity rate in a county.

Cerro gordo county currently has a 6 point 4 positivity rate over the last 14 days- according to the department of public health's dashboard.

Live in mason city-alex jirgens kimt news 3 thank you alex.

The new guidance also expands the scope of compassionate care visits - such as transitioning to a home - or for grievance purposes.

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