As vaccinations increase and death tolls drop, nursing homes, which have had a large portion of covid 19 deaths ease their restrictions, allowing many to hug their family members for the first time in a year.
COVID-19 deaths and infections have plummeted from a peak of 30,000 cases and 7,000 deaths to less than 1/10th of that. Average daily death rates in the US have dropped from heights of 3,500 daily to less than 1,000.
Federal regulators recently recommended that nursing home facilities allow indoor gatherings.
Many facilities and states still have strict restrictions for the short term, but are updating their policies to reflect federal guidelines.