PLANS for the admissions of new resi dents to the island’s infirmaries have been put on pause because of the latest wave of COVID-19 infections.

Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Desmond McKenzie says late last year there had been hope of a restart to admissions to the infirmaries following the ban on any new admissions that had been imposed in 2020.

The ban had been imposed by the Government to protect the health and welfare of residents already in the infirmaries. But with some 200 new people awaiting admission to the care facilities, plans were developed to begin the admission process early this year.

Last November McKenzie announced the plan to resume new admissions but underscored that people moving into the infirmaries would have to be vaccinated.

But in a recent interview McKenzie said that the challenges associated with the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus have further delayed this process.

“We are still maintaining that (the ban) and we are just waiting to see where this new strain is trending and once that is done we will roll out what is it we have in place for consideration for new residents” said McKenzie.

He further explained that his ministry will be working with guidance from the Ministry of Health in this regard.

“Once the Ministry of Health can advise us of what the situation is, because the positivity rate is still high, and once we get the positivity rate down to a manageable level then we will consider it.” added McKenzie.

Up to November last year more than 80 per cent of residents in the island’s infirmaries had been vaccinated.

Face-to-face visits to residents in the infirmaries resumed recently with strict protocols, including that every visitor had to be vaccinated.

“Visitors were allowed because we created a special area for that but we are not accepting new residents to the facilities right now,” declared McKenzie.