If you think being stuck at home during the social distancing restrictions has been hard on you, spare a thought for those living in aged care facilities, cut off from family and the outside world.
But, for some residents at the Goodwin Aged Care facilities in Mawson and Canberra Aged Care Facility in Lyneham, there was a little taste of normality on Tuesday, when they had a private performance by musician Rob Jarrah.
The Canberra performer was invited, courtesy of the Canberra Centre, to perform for the elderly residents from the facilities' courtyards while residents sat on nearby balconies to listen.
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Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Canberra Centre has been reaching out to different people affected by COVID-19 to bring them a little joy during a stressful time. These outreaches include taking care packages to nurses and delivering cupcakes to supermarket workers.
"We then started thinking about those in aged care facilities, and how residents have been cut off from family and the outside world," Canberra Centre general manager Gary Stewart says.
"Our team really wanted to brighten up the lives for our senior citizens so we worked with local musician, Rob Jarrah, to provide entertainment for the day."
This is the first time a performer has been allowed to entertain residents in the past few months, but with social distancing restrictions starting to ease, the aged care facilities were happy to have Jarrah come and entertain their residents.
"They were just chilling out in the sun, having a bit of a vibe, enjoying the music," the Canberra musician says.
"It seems like it had been hard for them. I was the first one to play there [since coronavirus] and I've seemed to have broken a pattern of monotony for them.
"And I just kind of gave them a good vibe. Some of them started dancing, some of them started to sing along and clap."
According to Goodwin Aged Care Facilities' activities coordinator Melissa Sims, coronavirus has forced the company to be more creative with the activities they put on for the residents.
While everyone is missing their weekly pub lunches and walks to feed the ducks, the facilities have been trying to host events that comply with social distancing, including a celebration for Cinco de Mayo which included pinatas which Sims says was a hit.
