RESIDENTS at a Romsey nursing home are one step closer to holding hands with their families again after they all received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, following an outbreak of the deadly bug.

Marie Louise House Nursing Home, Newton Lane, announced 13 residents and 17 staff tested positive for Covid-19, according to a statement on their website from December 23.

This forced the home to go into lockdown, meaning visits from family and friends have been suspended until further notice, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Residents and staff were not vaccinated on December 22 and 23 when Crosfield Hall, Broadwater Road, was transformed into an immunisation hub, due to there being "limited stock" available, the nursing home confirmed.

But, a spokesperson has now told the Advertiser three more residents had their first doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on February 12.

A team from Abbeywell Surgery came to the home to administer the game-changing jabs.

The trio was unable to receive the vaccine on January 13 because they were only allowed to have the jab "28 days after" having a Covid the test, a spokesperson said.

However, 27 residents still received their first Oxford-AstraZeneca dose on January 13.

All staff members have now been offered the jab, with the nursing home pledging the "second round of vaccines will take place towards the middle of March", the spokesperson stressed.

Marie Louise House is now poised to open for planned visits from March 8 under the Government's plan to ease lockdown restrictions in England.

The rules state residents will be allowed to hold hands with a loved one who can regularly visit them.

A spokesperson from the nursing home explained how the visits will work.

They said: "All visitors are tested using a rapid lateral flow test, which returns a result within 30 minutes [and] allow those with a negative result to progress with the planned pre-arranged visit support by stringent use of personal protective equipment (PPE)."

The spokesperson stressed staff are using rapid lateral flow tests twice a week, which are for people who don't have Covid symptoms according to the NHS website, while residents are tested twice a month.

Staff are also given polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests every week and are mainly for people who have symptoms.

Most people get their results the next day, but it may take up to three days, according to the NHS.

As reported, the nursing home said the outbreak was first discovered on December 8 after keeping the virus at bay for eight months.