The first of many! Delighted daughter hugs her 90-year-old mother indoors for first time in three months as Covid restrictions ease
- Mary Cook, 90, and daughter Fiona Scott hugged for first time in three months
- Care home residents in Scotland now allowed two designated visitors a week
- Ms Scott visited her mother at Queen’s House in Kelso, in the Scottish Borders
Heartwarming footage captures the moment a daughter is allowed to hug her 90-year-old mother for the first time in three months as Covid restrictions are eased.
Fiona Scott said she hoped today’s long-awaited embrace with her mother Mary Cook signalled ‘the start of more hugs for many, many people’, as regular care home visiting resumes in Scotland.
Ms Scott visited her mother at Queen’s House in Kelso, in the Scottish Borders, where they became the first to delight in the easing of restrictions on meeting indoors – greeting each other with a cuddle.
From today care home residents in Scotland are allowed to have two designated visitors, with each visitor able to see their relative once a week indoors.
In England care home residents are expected to be allowed one regular visitor from March 8, provided they are tested and wear PPE.
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Fiona Scott visits her mother Mary Cook at a nursing home today for the first time since the lockdown started in Scotland, amid the spread of coronavirus disease
It was the first time Ms Scott was able to meet with the grandmother-of-four indoors since the start of Scotland’s lockdown.
Ms Scott said: ‘It’s hard to put into words, you don’t feel as separate. It’s just normal isn’t it? I just feel very sorry for all the folks that cannot get together like this.’
She added: ‘The touch and feel, it can speak a volume of words. A hug’s a gesture that you can’t put into words but it conveys so much to the person.
‘Let’s hope that this is the start of more hugs for many, many people.’
From today care home residents in Scotland are allowed to have two designated visitors, with each visitor able to see their relative once a week indoors. Ms Cook (left) and her daughter
The pair, who said they have always been very close, looked delighted to be reunited after three months apart
A round of applause erupted as the pair had their first hug for the first time in months
Ms Scott said: ‘I just feel very sorry for all the folks that cannot get together like this’
Steven Bailey, concierge at the care home, said: ‘The difference is amazing – to see Mary and Fiona today, it’s just the best feeling in the world.
‘It reminds me of all the reasons why I do this job.
‘I think it will be very overwhelming for everybody – including the staff.
‘It’s been a long time coming.’
Data released last week showed that care home coronavirus deaths had fallen by 62 per cent in the last three weeks, with the figure cited by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon as the first ‘hard evidence’ of the vaccine’s impact.
Ms Scott is tested for Covid ahead of her visit to see her mother Ms Cook at the nursing home
Ms Scott is kitted out in PPE before meeting with her mother who is not required to wear PPE
The Scottish Government said that with the extra protection in place, the greater risk to residents’ wellbeing is from a lack of family contact.
Visitors will be ‘strongly recommended’ to take a coronavirus test on-site and will have to wear PPE.
Cathie Russell, who has been campaigning with the Care Home Relatives Scotland group, said: ‘We look forward to working with care home providers, public health and oversight teams to ensure that the new guidance allows residents to enjoy meaningful contact with their closest relatives and friends once more.’
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