The Director of Care at a Waterford city nursing home has welcomed the return of indoor visits to residents from March 22.
Mary Burke, of Killure Bridge Nursing Home, said the news of the easing of restrictions on visits had brought "great excitement" to residents.
Under the new rules, two visits per week are permitted in facilities where eight out of 10 residents and staff have been vaccinated. There is also a longer time limit on visits.
Although health officials warned last night that the Covid-19 situation in Ireland remains "precarious", they said the easing of the nursing home restrictions demonstrates what can arise from the rollout of vaccinations.
Speaking to Damien Tiernan on Deise Today, Mary Burke said Killure Bridge had enjoyed good take-up of the vaccine, between residents and staff.
"The residents are in great spirits and yesterday's news has brought great excitement," she said, paying tribute to all those (staff and residents) who had shown great resilience in the past year, in spite of everything.
For the past few months, window visits, she said, had been ongoing at the facility and about 70% of residents had availed of them.
However, while a good "stopgap", these didn't suit every case, including where residents had dementia or even sight or hearing problems.
She said the last year had been the "most challenging" for all those in the nursing area but there was a good buzz around the facility this morning.
You can listen back to Mary Burke speaking on Deise Today this morning by clicking below here..
