THE managers of three care homes in the Helensburgh area say their facilities have remained free of Covid-19 cases throughout the coronavirus lockdown.

Following the confirmation that four residents at Northwood House had died after contracting the disease, the Advertiser contacted the Argyle Care Centre and Morar Lodge in Helensburgh and the Lochside Care Home in Shandon asking whether there had been any Covid-19 cases – and also how staff, residents and families were coping more than two months after lockdown restrictions were brought into force to control the pandemic.

Michelle Carr, manager of the Argyle Care Centre, said: “We haven’t had any Covid-19 cases: we’re completely Covid-free and will hopefully remain so, and we’re really proud of that, although it doesn’t mean we’re taking our foot off the gas in terms of making sure we stay that way.

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“It’s difficult getting used to working with the amount of PPE that we require – you really feel it after a 12-hour shift, especially as the weather has been getting warmer.

“Our staff have been amazing. They’ve just got on with the job, working hard at looking after residents and each other, keeping everyone safe and keeping morale high.

“They all want to do their best for the home and for the residents.

“Our residents are used to living their best lives, and all of a sudden they don’t have that, so we’re having to find new ways of providing stimulation for them.

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“They’re able to stay in touch with their families through Zoom, Skype and WhatsApp video calls, and we can still do activities within the home – they just have to be in smaller groups.

“Unfortunately people with dementia aren’t able to understand the situation – they don’t retain the information that we’re in the middle of a pandemic.

“We’re waiting to see how things pan out. There’s going to come a time when people are going to want to get back to visiting loved ones, so we will need to find out a way of doing that safely.

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"Our families, and the community, have been great – we’ve had a number of generous gestures from the community and local businesses, such as Dino’s delivering tubs of ice cream, and we’re really grateful for all the support we’ve had.”

Fiona Ness, manager of the Lochside Care Home, said: “We’re still free of Covid cases and all our staff are continuing to go above and beyond to ensure that residents receive the standard of care they and their families expect.”

And Sandra Sallie, care services manager at Morar Lodge, said they, too, had had no cases of, or deaths resulting from, Covid-19, and added that the situation at the home was “still absolutely fine”.

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