VANCOUVER -- It’s a small room in a care facility and it’s 85-year-old Barry Ibbott’s home.

But these past eight months, he says it’s often felt more like a prison.

“I can go at least 12 hours and never see a soul other than housekeeping and my nurses,” the Nanaimo senior said in an interview with CTV News. “It's so depressing at times.”

Ibbott is one of 27,000 seniors living in long-term care in B.C.

He says the isolation of pandemic visitor restrictions emotionally weigh him down, and he’s struggling with the “new normal” in his facility.

“The loneliness gets bigger and bigger,” he explained.

Ibbott has no complaints with the staff, who he says are doing their best, but he longs for the ordinary.

“There’s a coffee shop across the street I've never been to. It's the little things like that. You go out and meet someone and have a cup of coffee. I can't do that,” Ibbott said.

He wishes for simple things, like daily walks outside, which help him as he battles Parkinson’s.

But mostly, Ibbott says, he wishes for family visits were not separated by glass barriers.

“Sixty years I've tried to keep my family together as happy, content,” he said, adding it's frustrating not knowing when they might all be together again.

Despite all of these things, he considers himself blessed.

In August, he held his daughter Lynda Bennett’s gloved hand for the first time in five months.

“I cried. OK, everybody cried because it was such a moment,” Bennett recalled.

“Human touch. Wow! It just teaches you how important that human touch is.”

His daughter is his one designated visitor and loves giving her dad hugs during their short visits twice a week.

“I don’t let go,” she said.

Her dad is learning all about Zoom these days and had his first virtual visit with one of his sons recently.

Bennett says her dad is optimistic by nature, but he admits that some days, it’s tough to find a reason to get out of bed.

“I have no incentive here. I have nothing here," he said.

He fears COVID-19, but believes there’s a way to safely allow more visits.

Last week, B.C.’s Seniors Advocate, Isobel MacKenzie, released a report urging expanded visitation for seniors.

So far, health officials have not made any changes as they struggle to control COVID-19 outbreaks in some regions.

In Fraser Health, there are currently 22 outbreaks in care facilities. Vancouver Coastal Health has nine.

Meanwhile, Ibbott says the uncertainty of never knowing when restrictions will be lifted, is discouraging.

“The emotion is so strong at times. You get down into a depression. What do I do next? The uncertainty is terrible,” he said.