California now allows nursing home visits, but few happen

For months, families have pined to see their loved ones who live in California’s skilled nursing facilities, which have been shut down to outside visitors to keep the coronavirus from spreading.

California health authorities recently issued guidance for visits to resume, but few are happening as infection rates surge in many communities. Facilities are being cautious after many suffered severe outbreaks earlier in the pandemic.

“I’m desperate at this point,” said Sue Mathis, who hasn’t seen her 94-year-old mother in San Francisco in four months. “My mother calls me crying, sometimes several times a day, begging me that she wants to see me, and when will she see me, and will she be able to see me before she dies. It’s crazy.”

California’s skilled nursing facilities closed to visitors in March, but their residents still have been among the hardest hit by the pandemic because many are elderly, frail and live in close proximity. Statewide, the facilities account for about 40% of California’s nearly 7,000 deaths.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some — especially older adults and people with existing health problems — it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.

Families have relied on phone and video calls to stay in touch with loved ones. In some cases, they can chat through windows at the facilities. But these visits can be challenging for residents with impaired vision or hearing or cognitive difficulties.

Under California’s new guidance, indoor visitation is limited to one person at a time and only may occur if there’s adequate staffing, testing and no new virus cases in a facility for 14 days and a decline in new cases, hospitalizations or deaths in the surrounding...