Nursing Home Relax Restriction

Nursing homes can now further relax visitation policies under new guidance from the louisiana department of health.

News 1's patsy douglas caught up with a carencro woman who was finally able to see her grandmother this weekend.... after a year of waiting.

Reporter intro - brittany estilette received a call that she was waiting for since the beginning of the pandemic... that call was to see her grandmother again.

Sot - "talking to her through a bedroom window for a year was just not enough , i needed to touch her , i needed to feel her" vo - the pandemic took a toll on nursing homes nationwide.nat sot - "i miss being able to do snapchat filters with her" but after a year of facetime calls and window visits , estilette was finally able to hug her 92-year-old grandmother.sot - "the stress from the year felt like it just disappeared within that 30 minutes of being able to be there with her , yes we had to sit outside , yes we had to mask up but i could still hold her hand and that was just in it self worth the wait" vo - other residents across the community were also able to see their loved ones as vistations became available at river oaks nursing home.sot - "even though they were still required to wear the mask , you can see their eyes lit up , ya know they had tears in their eyes , and the eyes are a window to the soul , and it just shows the joy and the life that they still had.."vo - estilette encourages people to love on their families as much as they can.sot - " so many people have lost their lives to covid, i am thankful that my grandmother did't because that was one of my worst fears was i will never get to give her another hug and kiss again ..

What if something happens , ya know just take advantage of every single minute that you can get with someone ..in lafayette patsy douglas news 15 3 fully vaccinated patients at river oaks nursing home do't have to maintain the 6 feet of distance but those who are't vaccinated have to abide by the social distance restrictions