A care home in Burnham has opened up its doors to visitors for the first time in four months to enable residents to see their loved ones.

Weston Mercury: Country Court care homes have reopened to visitors across the country. Picture: Country CourtCountry Court care homes have reopened to visitors across the country. Picture: Country Court (Image: Country Court)

Priory Court Care & Nursing Home, in Oxford Street, had put a halt to visiting hours to protect residents from contracting coronavirus.

Country Court, which runs the home, put guidelines in place before the lockdown, and it is asking visitors to comply with stringent health and safety measures to help keep their loved ones safe.

The family business said there were ‘many touching reunions’ at homes across the country as residents were able to see their loved ones for the first time since spring.

Weston Mercury: Country Court care homes have reopened to visitors across the country. Picture: Country CourtCountry Court care homes have reopened to visitors across the country. Picture: Country Court (Image: Country Court)

One relative said they felt ‘very lucky’ to be able to visit and thanked care home staff for looking after residents and making ‘everything safe for them’ during these past few months.

Vimal Samuel, home manager at Priory Court, said: “We are extremely pleased to be able to open our doors again, families are as much a part of our home as our residents.

“It’s been very emotional to see residents’ faces light up as they see family members after so long.

Weston Mercury: Country Court care homes have reopened to visitors across the country. Picture: Country CourtCountry Court care homes have reopened to visitors across the country. Picture: Country Court (Image: Country Court)

“We know how important it is for our residents to see loved ones and this is a real boost for everyone.”

Each Country Court home has put together a comprehensive list of information for visitors to help them feel at ease with the new procedures when they visit their loved ones.

On arrival, visitors will be required to wear a face mask for garden visits and full personal protective equipment for indoor visits.

People are also required to pass through a thermal imaging machine to check their temperature on arrival.

Operations director Helen Richmond said: “All Country Court Care and Nursing Homes remain Covid-19 free at this time and all of the measures we have implemented for these visits are designed to keep it that way.

“This means that visits will be different from before, but we are sure that people will understand why.

“These visits have been able to happen because of the hard work of all our homes to keep residents safe and it has been amazing to see how much it means to everyone.”