CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Since the uptick in COVID-19 cases, certain hospitals have reinstated visitor restrictions and a few counties have brought back mask mandates. One woman hopes we don’t return to the restrictions of spring 2020.

What You Need To Know

About 3,815 people in North Carolina are hospitalized for COVID-19 as of Sept. 9 

While this is a large increase since the start of summer, levels are starting to plateau

Mecklenburg County is one of a few areas that has reinstated mask mandates

Nan Bauroth loves gardening. It’s an activity that reminds her of her mother, Octavia. When she was little they would spend hours in the dirt.

“She taught me everything I know,” Bauroth said. “From weeding to fertilizing, to accepting the fact that plants sometimes just don’t like it where you plant them.”

Six years ago her mother was put in a senior care facility. She still brought her fresh flowers every week for six years straight. But her weekly visits all came to a halt when the pandemic started last year.

“I believe it was eight months,” Bauroth said. “It was a long time.”

She went eight long months without seeing her mother in person. Toward the end she knew her mother was fading and she begged to be with her. The facility finally let her in during her mother's last days.

“There is nothing that can substitute for the touch of a loved one, especially someone who is in the final stages of life,” Bauroth said. “Within about 20 minutes she was gone.”

She was able to say her final goodbye. It’s a comfort she knows others didn’t have.

In March, the Department of Health and Human Services started allowing visitors back to long-term care facilities. But this means the people staying there went about a whole year without being able to see their loved ones in person.

“My plea to government officials or to business people is to realize you always have to put the human heart as one of the key variables in the equation,” Bauroth said.