Care home residents in England will be able to receive two visitors indoors from Monday 12 April as the government eases Covid restrictions.
Visitors will be asked to provide a negative test result and wear PPE during the visit to keep themselves, staff and residents safe.
In the coming weeks, some visitors will be able to conduct tests at home rather than at care homes to help manage the flow of visitors and allow more visits to take place.
Visitors who are parents will also be able to visit with babies and very young children, who will not count as one of the visitors.
That means grandparents and great-grandparents will be able to meet the newest members of their families for the first time.
Further opportunities for relatives and contacts to have outdoor, pod and screen visits will continue in line with the published guidance which has been in place during lockdown.
“Increasing care home visiting is a top priority as we ease Covid restrictions. I know just how much these visits mean to residents and their loved ones,” said Care Minister Helen Whately (pictured).
“We want to go further, so we’re allowing more visitors at this next stage of the roadmap - and our aim is to make visiting care homes as normal as possible by the summer. We know how cruel this virus can be in care homes so we must continue to follow the science and data, but things are looking up,” she added.
