Bhopal: No visitors, walk in park for old-age home residents

BHOPAL: As the elderly fall in the Covid-19-vulnerable population, the old-age homes of the state capital are taking extra precaution to ensure the safety of their residents.
The residents have been in isolation since the second week of March and have not been allowed any visitor.
Radha Choubey, caretaker of Aasra old-age home said that her staff had provided extra soaps to its residents to ensure they keep washing their hands frequently."As the threat of Covid-19 is more serious more, we created more distance between their beds and if there were any residents who had caught a cold, we requested them to minimise their interaction with others for a few days," she said.
Choubey added that the beds are being sanitised every day to ensure that senior citizens do not catch any kind of infection. "Two counsellors from the health department also came to instruct them to maintain proper hygiene and cover their mouths and nose while sneezing or coughing. We are not even allowing visitors to meet them as they are at a greater risk of falling ill," Choubey added.
The founder of Apna Ghar old-age home, Madhuri Mishra said, "Earlier all the elderly members used to go out for evening walks to nearby parks and spend time with children from the nearby colonies. But now as we are not supposed to take them out at all, they are mostly spending their time playing carrom and chess. They enjoy themselves and compete against each other as most of them are good players. Many of them who like to cook are making snacks for us to pass time."
Mishra told TOI that senior citizens have also been asked to maintain social distancing and wash their hands every few hours.
All events and parties planned in the upcoming weeks have been cancelled.