Families across the UK are meeting for what they assume will be one final time before the government’s expected lockdown of those aged over 70 is introduced.
In Ipswich on Wednesday, there will be a lunch of four generations: Davina and John Richards, aged 86 and 88, will be visited by their 61-year old daughter, Pam, and 59-year old son, plus their grandchildren – aged 30 and 28 – and their great-grandchildren: 18-month-old Honey and six-month-old Janie.
“It’s frustrating: I wish the government had given us more warning,” said Davina. “I haven’t seen my extended family for a few weeks and would have liked not to have had this rushed, en masse gathering because of the risks to our health, but the government has given us no choice: I’m not going into lockdown for four months without seeing them all one last time.”
The World Health Organization is recommending that people take simple precautions to reduce exposure to and transmission of the coronavirus, for which there is no specific cure or vaccine.
The UN agency advises people to:
- Frequently wash their hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or warm water and soap
- Cover their mouth and nose with a flexed elbow or tissue when sneezing or coughing
- Avoid close contact with anyone who has a fever or cough
- Seek early medical help if they have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, and share their travel history with healthcare providers
Many countries are now enforcing or recommending curfews or lockdowns.
In the UK, NHS advice is that anyone with symptoms should stay at home for at least 7 days.
If you live with other people, they should stay at home for at least 14 days, to avoid spreading the infection outside the home.
Pam agreed. “I know there are risks around contact between our parents and their great-grandchildren but my dad has underlying health problems: it’s not inconceivable that he won’t make it through this. How can we deny him one last family knees-up before the drawbridge goes up on all contact with them?”
In north London, 90-year-old Ben Thomas is going for a walk on Hampstead Heath with his son, grandson and great-grandson. “I think that if we stay in the open air and keep our distance from each other, this should be safe,” he said. “Self-isolation is going to be depressing. I need to get my fill of my family while I still can.”
In Cornwall, 79-year-old Dulcie Williams will meet her son, grandson and great-granddaughter for a cream tea on Wednesday. “I haven’t yet decided if I will keep to full self-isolation,” she said. “I might well find that life is no longer worth living if I can’t see my loved ones. I hear what the government are saying that that’s a decision for me to take when the time comes.”
Some older people, however, have already decided not to keep to self-isolation. “I support the government’s strategy,” said Enid, who is in her late 80s. “I have listened to the official advice, checked the books and online resources, and find the strategy to be sound and based on established research models.
“But I will nevertheless stay at home until I want to go out,” she added. “I accept we are in crisis, that my life is at risk and that I must take every precaution to protect myself. But I still intend to have my great-grandchild every other afternoon after they’ve finished nursery,” she added. “There is no way my granddaughter could possible afford or arrange alternative care, and I’m sure it will be perfectly safe.”
