The Bethel Elder’s Home is reopening to in-person visitors after nearly an entire year of limiting visits to video and phone calls. The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation operates the facility and has put a list of restrictions into effect.
Visitors to the Elder’s Home must schedule their appointments at least 24 hours in advance, and residents can have only two guests at a time.
Also, visitors must undergo a COVID-19 screening upon arrival, wear a mask inside the facility, and keep 6 feet from others. Anyone with COVID-19 symptoms will not be allowed inside the Elder’s Home, nor will anyone who has been in close contact with someone with COVID-19 in the past two weeks, regardless of the visitor’s vaccination status. Outdoor visits will be allowed when practical.
YKHC encourages all visitors to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Unvaccinated visitors will not be allowed to enter the facility if the local COVID-19 positivity rate rises above 10%, and/or if the resident vaccination rate drops below 70%.
YKHC closed the Elder’s Home to visitors on March 19, 2020 as a COVID-19 precaution and reopened visitation on March 12, 2021.
