Learning disability and older adults day services across Aberdeenshire will be suspended from Friday.
Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership said they took the “difficult decision” to suspend services for the foreseeable future due to guidance about social distancing during the coronavirus outbreak.
A spokeswoman said: “Protecting the most vulnerable people in our communities is our core business and that duty is even more important than ever in the current climate. We appreciate that this is an anxious time for many of our service users and our social work teams will be in contact with them and their families as soon as we possibly can to provide further advice, information and support.
“Ceasing the operation of our day and respite services will also help us with, not only shielding our service users from possible infection, but it will also allow our fantastic staff who work in the services to be re-deployed and trained to support our other vital services.”
She added staff are expecting a greater demand on many of their community services over the coming weeks and months.
“We will do all we can to continue support our communities however there will be changes to what we can offer and we thank you in advance for your understanding.”