In the city where I am currently living it seems that the social distancing measurements are slowly falling. People are going out more often and the streets are expected to open by the 5th of May. However, the risk of Coronavirus is still floating around and we cannot neglect such a thing. The ones who are more vulnerable to this virus are old people and people with a weak immune system. I hadn’t seen my grandmother in nearly a month and for the first time today, I dropped by her house.
She was wearing a mask and we didn’t even get to touch or anything. We just said ‘Hi’ to each other and after five minutes I had to leave again for the sake of her own well being. Before leaving, my grandmother went inside and she brought me a couple of red Easter eggs. She’s orthodox and she has always celebrated Easter with family members, but this year she had to celebrate it alone. It is really sad that a lot of old people are left alone during such a time. Especially people that live in nursing homes.
These are the people that are most affected by loneliness during this pandemic. They don’t get visits and things can get really boring for them. But not all the senior citizens in nursing homes don’t get visitors. A company in the Netherlands managed to solve such an issue in a very interesting and safe way. Flexotels is a Dutch company that provides private cabins for people to relax during festivals. But since the Dutch government has stopped all festivals and gatherings until this pandemic is over, then Flexotels has decided to use their private cabins in another way.
They have modified them with a glass window in the middle and now they are using them in nursing homes so familiars can safely meet with their loved ones. Of course, people still have to pay for such a service, which keeps the company up to its feet, but at least the people that are staying in nursing homes don’t get to stay all day alone and not have a loved one come and visit them from once in a while. You can still talk on the phone or video call your loved ones, but it is totally different when you have them near you, even though you cannot touch them. We can truly say that this company is doing a public service.
