A couple who have been married for nearly 70 years were able to embrace for the first time in 10 months at the weekend, having previously only seen each other through perspex partition or on video calls due to coronavirus restrictions.
Eddie Burtenshaw (98), a resident of the Hamilton Park nursing home in Balbriggan, was reunited with his wife Gladys (93) on Saturday. The couple, who are originally from north Dublin, were married in March 1951 and have three daughters.
Mr Burtenshaw entered the nursing home four years ago due to mobility problems. Prior to the virus, he had family visitors every day while his wife was in to see him between four and five times a week.
"It was great to see him on Saturday, we were delighted," Mrs Burtenshaw told The Irish Times. "It's been awful not being able to get in to see him properly. I spoke to him a few times over the phone but you can't really speak properly. I was able to give him a hug but I couldn't get too close with the way things are."
Mrs Burtenshaw said her husband was “in good form”. “I’m happy about that,” she added. “He is lonely enough but the girls in there are very good to him.
‘Thanked God’
“I’m hoping to get in to see him again soon. We talked about everything, just catching up. We just liked being together again and thanked God that we’re all right.”
Mrs Burtenshaw was tested onsite at the nursing home and received her results within 20 minutes as part of the Health Passport Europe digital platform the care centre is using to facilitate visits over the Christmas period.
The Health Passport system allows visitors to receive their test results within 20 minutes after being tested. The results are automatically received privately into their Health Passport app.
Families can book a 15-minute visiting slot over Christmas once their negative test result is obtained.
David Pratt, managing director and chief executive of Hamilton Park nursing home, said: "We wanted to seek a way that we could facilitate visits from loved ones in the safest possible way this month, one that would mitigate any risks of potentially spreading the virus."
From Monday, residents of nursing homes and other care facilities are able to have one visit by one person per week.
Tadhg Daly, chief executive of Nursing Homes Ireland, the representative body for private nursing homes that make up 80 per cent of the sector, welcomed the easing of visiting restrictions but said “a high degree of vigilance” was required.
He urged people to “limit your own contacts before you decide to go to a nursing home; this is a shared responsibility”.
