The Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) said in a statement yesterday that it has arranged with 11 residential care homes for persons with disabilities and one centre for the rehabilitation of drug users to implement a “closed-loop management measure” which gradually started yesterday.
The statement noted that after the implementation of the measure, except for a designated person, all staff and service users need to stay at the facilities and undergo COVID-19 tests regularly, while no visitors will be allowed to enter the premises. It added that measures such as non-contact delivery of items will also be carried out, with the aim of implementing the government’s anti-COVID-19 strategy of “preventing the importation of cases from outside and controlling the spread of the virus in facilities.”
According to the statement, the bureau has issued instruction guidelines to the care homes and the rehabilitation centre, in line of which four residential care homes for persons with disabilities implemented the “closed-loop management measure” yesterday, while the others will put the measures in place today, so as to minimise the risk of contacting the community, in order to protect the services’ users and staff members’ health and safety.
The statement underlined that the bureau will stay in touch with the care homes and the rehabilitation centre and follow up on the implementation of the measures with all the related entities and organisations. It added that the bureau will adjust the measures based on the current COVID-19 outbreak’s actual situation.
