Some Senior Facilities Are Not Doing Anything To Help Minimize Risks From The Coronavirus

We have seen the news about coronavirus and the danger it can pose to the elderly in particular. We have been told to keep children away from senior centers and to try and increase hand washing and minimize the number of people coming in and out. My daughter sings in a choir that performs for senior centers and we decided ourselves to cancel all performances so that our children did not bring in any sickness as well as keeping true to avoiding crowds for right now. We had not had any of the facilities cancel us which I found interesting.

My mom's facility has sent out an email that says the same things as others have about washing hands, etc. The past week I have been to see her 3 times. There has been nobody questioning me on the way in. Nobody asking if I am sick and who I am there to see. Anyone has been able to come in and out and there does not seem to be any sense of concern. They did cancel a few activities however, my mom still participated in an activity last night with others. They also had a 8x10 paper in a plastic frame posted on a table on one of the floors where nobody would ever see it or notice it.

There are numerous people with illnesses in this facility on at least one floor so those people would certainly be at risk. the facility is short staffed all the time so there have been caregivers working who have colds but can't afford to lose their hourly pay so they are working anyway. I know that in some other facilities they have someone checking visitors on the way in and allowing only those who must be there or a family member who shows no signs of any illness.

This is an extremely serious situation especially for seniors so the facilities should be in full on protection mode. We have colleges closing and the risk of those kids is much less than for the elderly. My mom has serious health issues so if this virus gets into her facility it will be deadly as was the case in Washington state. If you have someone in a senior facility make sure you speak up and demand to know what they are doing to protect your loved ones.