The coronavirus has killed about 14,000 residents of nursing homes in France — half the country’s death toll. We are lucky that, so far, none of those deaths occurred at my grandparents’ home, where the caregivers have been vigilant about social distancing.
As France began easing its lockdown last week, we were finally able to visit, or rather sit outside the home, as my grandparents sat inside, a few feet away. To allow us to hear each other, the staff opened the door, but placed a table with a plexiglass partition in the doorway.
We could see my grandparents only one at a time, since they are in different parts of the home that can no longer mix socially. My grandfather, a former stone mason, misses many things that we cannot yet deliver, like shorts, because of the home’s strict rules. But it is my grandmother’s company that he misses most.
“As France began easing its lockdown last week, we were finally able to visit, with limits. To allow us to hear each other, the staff opened the door, but placed a table with a plexiglass partition in the doorway.” https://t.co/3f1HBg9RUJ by @ElianPeltier
— New York Times World (@nytimesworld) May 26, 2020