SUMTER, S.C. — At nursing homes and assisted living facilities, more residents are staying home for the holidays, worried a visit elsewhere amid the coronavirus pandemic could be dangerous.
“We have window visits, Zoom and FaceTime,” Morningside of Sumter Executive Director Gary Brown said. “We also have the outdoor and the indoor visits.”
Distanced visitation is now the primary way of connection for facilities like Morningside of Sumter.
“You get used to certain things, and I’m used to it,” John Mewborn, a resident there, said.
He enjoyed an outdoor visit for Thanksgiving with his daughter Shannon.
“I get to see her and talk to her. That’s the best thing,” Mewborn said.
They couldn’t touch or hug. Still they were feeling thankful.
“It really means a lot because it has been a tough year for everybody, but not being able to come and see him and help him if he needs things, and they do a wonderful job here taking care of my dad and all of the residents, but it’s different when you can’t do something for your family member and this is my dad," Shannon Mewborn said. "So, it’s just exciting to be able to come and see him when I have those opportunities.”
Brown worries what a second surge of the virus could mean for future gatherings and a population most at risk.
“Absolutely we do, and that’s why we just continue to practice everything as safely as we can,” Brown said, “and that’s why, what we’re doing today we’re making sure that we do it as safely as possible.”
With a vaccine on the horizon, he’s hopeful that better days are ahead.
“We also want that to be safe and ...effective for the folks here, but we’re very hopeful. We see a light at the end of the tunnel,” Brown said.
John Mewborn is too.
“If it’ll help, I’m for it,” Mewborn said.
For now, he's happy for the opportunities to see his daughter, even at a distance apart.