CLAY COUNTY – Nursing homes and assisted living centers around the area have been effectively closed to the public amidst the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

There are only a handful of cases in Clay County but most include older residents. With the risks posed to older populations, Clay County is playing it safe to keep those most at-risk highly protected.

“[Nursing homes and assisted living facilities] hold a lot of our vulnerable population here in Clay County and we want to make sure that we’re protecting them so we’ve been sending out guidance to them since the start of this,” Clay’s Florida Department of Health administrator Heather Huffman said.

Huffman said nursing homes are screening staff each day and have eliminated visitation. She said every nursing home has been completely compliant in following guidelines and regulation and that so far, there have been no cases of coronavirus in these facilities.

Astoria Assisted Living on U.S. Highway 17 said no visitors are allowed. They also said residents are not allowed to leave. Huffman said families that take residents out of a nursing home or assisted living facility should not expect that resident to be re-entered until the COVID-19 threat has subsided.

Both Life Care Center and Signature Healthcare in Orange Park are following suit with no visitors. Both facilities have set up ways for families to speak to residents through video conferences. Life Care Center is allowing families to speak to residents inside via Skype channels.

Signature Healthcare is relying on YourDoc 2U Telehealth Solutions.

Patients at PruittHealth on Fleming Island can talk to family members via video conference calls. They also receive handmade greeting cards from children to mitigate senior loneliness during the pandemic.

“Based on the instruction of the CDC and other government agencies, including the continued, daily guidelines issued by President Trump and the White House, our facilities remain under ‘Limited Access’ which means no individual, regardless of reason, can enter a facility, except under certain and very specific circumstances, such as an end-of-life situation or when critical for a resident’s emotional well-being and care,” a coronavirus notice on their website reads.

Life Care Center said the residents may leave only to go to necessary scheduled doctor appointments.

Huffman said everybody should practice social distancing and getting in the habit of washing hands often, but she said the elderly should be especially careful with who and what they come into contact with. Clay County Commission Chairman Gayward Hendry said less-vulnerable people should check on elderly family members and neighbors in a contactless way often and offer to make grocery or prescription runs for them.

“They really don’t need to be out during this,” Hendry said.