Relatives of residents at the Jewish Choice care home in Wembley have been allowed to visit their loved ones for the first time since it locked down on March 11. And other communal welfare providers are beginning to follow suit.

Jewish Choice has been admitting small groups of relatives for socially distanced one-hour appointments. All have to wear PPE, wash their hands and have their temperature taken before entering the building.

Many of Jewish Care’s 11 homes are ready to resume scheduled visits — and are now open to new residents. At The Fed’s Heathlands home in Manchester, visitors are permitted to come to the outside of the building, greeting relatives through the windows. And Norwood, which runs the Ravenswood residential village in Berkshire, said “plans are being put in place” for socially distanced visits.

Jewish Choice trialled visits over a three-day period before everyone at the home was tested again. One of the first visitors, Anthony Bull, spent an hour sitting in the garden with his mother Barbara, 92, and sister Hilary Levy. He said it had been “a great relief because we hadn’t seen her for 11 weeks”.

His mother had been rushed to hospital for an operation on a broken hip during the pandemic and the home had been “brilliant” in ensuring she was back in just over a week.

Another visitor was David Norman, 70, who enjoyed coffee and cakes in the garden with his 95-year-old mother Kitty.

“She doesn’t really remember when I come in anyway. But the sound of her voice saying ‘when are you going to come in and see me?’ [in phone conversations during the lockdown] made it emotionally hard.”

Mr Norman said he had also missed seeing the staff, who had cared for his mother for four years and who he described as being “like an extended family”.

Sad as it was that he had not seen his mother in well over two months, “it’s not their fault; it’s the virus’s fault”.

Mandy Kazischer, 66, shared squash and kosher croissants in a visitation lounge with her 86-year-old mother Binnie Isbitt, who has dementia and Alzheimer’s.

“She does know me but it was a little bit strange for her because she hasn’t seen me in a mask. She said ‘Mandy’s coming to visit me’. And I said ‘mummy it’s me’.”

Paul Goodman, 60, and wife Amanda, 59, encountered a similar situation visiting Lionel Lightman, 91, Amanda’s father.

“It took him a moment to recognise us because you’re wearing a mask, an apron and gloves and he’s a man in his 90s.” But once he realised, “he was equally thrilled”.

At Jewish Care, a spokesperson told the JC that “managers and staff are working hard to make visits possible for as many residents and relatives as they can.

“These scheduled visits are carefully planned to ensure that the safety of residents, staff and visitors is not compromised.”

Chief Executive of The Fed, Mark Cunningham, reported “some emotional reunions” from behind windows at Heathlands.

The home had almost completed swab tests of all staff and residents, who total close to 500 people. Although the tests had showed some positive but asymptomatic cases, “we are getting there”, he stressed.

Norwood said visits to Ravenswood would be managed on a “case-by-case basis, relating to each resident’s ability to understand social distancing”.