Isolation can harm
and cause depression
At the start of the pandemic when seniors were dying, the decision was made to lock them away from their families. This worked and prevented more deaths.
Now that a vaccine is available and we are more knowledgeable about how to control the virus, nothing has changed for those seniors. By March 1, my father will have been locked in his assisted living community for a year. We were unable to see him until the summer when supervised 30-minute visits were implemented on weekdays. However, such visits have been canceled for weeks at a time because someone (usually a worker) had contact with the virus. The residents then are quarantined for 14 days each time this happens.
Finally, the communities have been able to get residents vaccinated. We thought our father no longer would be locked away because someone had the virus. Unfortunately, these restrictions continue. Now, it is the workers who refused to be vaccinated who are causing problems. Twice since all the residents have been vaccinated, the facility has been on lockdown.
I have been unable to take my father to doctors’ appointments because he will be quarantined if he leaves. Despite my being vaccinated, I am not allowed to see him unless it is a supervised visit behind Plexiglas. He’s safer around me than the unvaccinated workers. At least one designated family member should be able to see their parents in their rooms.