January 27, 2021
Dear Community Residential Program Families:
Late last week, the Government of Manitoba announced a loosening of the Code RED pandemic restrictions which includes allowing two designated visitors to each home. Usually, Community Living disABILITY Services (CLdS) sends out a circular shortly after such announcements, advising service providers of how the announced changes impact the visitation protocols for people receiving services. We have not yet received a circular following this last announcement, and are therefore communicating what we (St.Amant CRP) believe to be the case.
This announcement doesn’t change our current in-home visitation protocols; each person we support can still designate two visitors who are welcome to visit the home (separately). The visitors will still need to follow the precautions, meaning: the visit needs to be scheduled, with pre-screening for any symptoms and wearing PPE during the visit.
This announcement does mean (from our perspective) that a person we support can be designated as one of two household visitors to your home, or a close friend’s home – as long as all Public Health guidelines are followed. This is a change from the previous guidelines which prohibited out-of-home visits except when:
- The person supported was the regular and designated visitor of a family member who lived alone.
- An “exceptional circumstance” existed and was approved by a CLdS program manager.
If you plan to designate your family members as one of your two household visitors, please let your family members’ staff know.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the team that supports your family member or myself.
Thanks and have a great evening,
Peter Duff
Director, Community Residential Program