Communal welfare homes are suspending all but emergency visits as London and Essex move into the second tier of the government’s Covid-prevention restrictions from the weekend.

Jewish Care, which administers nine homes in the affected area, said relatives would now only be able to visit in “extraordinary circumstances”, such as a loved one in end-of-life care.

 “We know how distressing this may be for families and residents,” chief executive Daniel Carmel-Brown told the JC.  “To ensure they are able to maintain contact, we will continue to facilitate as many video calls as possible. The safety and wellbeing of our residents and staff remains our priority.” 

Jewish Care has invested in technology during the pandemic to better facilitate contact between residents and their relatives.

Nightingale House in Clapham is also suspending routine visits from relatives and friends. Nightingale Hammerson chief executive Helen Simmons feared the change would have a negative impact on residents, pointing to recent research suggesting that isolation worsened the effects of Alzheimer’s disease. 

“We will comply with the guidance but we feel that we would prefer the government to take a more compassionate approach to the mental health of residents,” she told the JC. 

Ms Simmons also reported that Nightingale had not had any infections among residents since visits resumed in June, which she attributed to a “very secure visiting system”. 

A spokesperson for Jewish Choice in Wembley, which has been Covid-free since lockdown was eased in June, said: “We’ve in fact been on our own ‘Tier 2’ and locked down for quite some weeks, since the heightened levels of Covid-19 were acknowledged across the Jewish Community and in particular Hertsmere and North West London, where many of our residents come from.”

They added that they conduct weekly tests, and any new residents are quarantined before being allowed to mix with other residents.

Although tier two regulations prohibit the mixing of households indoors, synagogue services can continue with appropriate social distancing. Wedding ceremonies and receptions of up to 15 people may go ahead, provided the reception is a sit-down meal. 

Thirty people can attend a funeral. The number allowed at a stone-setting was this week raised by the government from six to 15.