Mohamed Oulad calls the newspaper from his residence near the center of Madrid to ask for help because he no longer knows who to turn to. “They are slowly killing me. I’ve been locked up in the room for more than 80 days and this is worse than prison, “he says in a tired voice.
He lives in the Goya nursing home, in an area of the capital with so much hustle and bustle of cars and pedestrians that it seems to have returned to normal even though we are still in phase 1 of de-escalation. Children, athletes and even older people residing in their private homes have long enjoyed freedom, but the elderly in nursing homes are the last to remain in absolute quarantine. They are totally prohibited from going outside and in many cases remain confined to their bedrooms.
Oulad, 72, has been emotionally and physically affected by confinement. Before the pandemic, he used to spend mornings and afternoons outside the residence, but now he has trouble walking and feels sick. He shares a small room on the fourth floor of his residence, a public center in the Community of Madrid. It has a balcony from which you can see Doctor Esquerdo street. From there he waves with his hand, before relating his condition to the newspaper by telephone. He cannot even go out into the hallways, so he spends most of his time lying in bed listening to Cadena SER or Radio Nacional. The food is left by the caretakers at the door and since they do not have a table in the room they have to eat on the bed.
“My friends tell me to hold on, that there is little left but I am already tired of holding on,” he says.
The prolonged isolation is taking its toll on all the elderly who have survived the pandemic in residences in Madrid, and for this reason, the associations of families have asked for a shock plan to be treated by professionals. “The residences should have an urgent treatment program with psychologists and physical therapists, but instead they are cutting staff,” denounces Carmen López, president of the Ademaf association.
Children and grandchildren have been unable to visit the elders since mid-March, when regional authorities decided to ban them to stop the spread of the coronavirus. In the video calls they have held during this period, many have noticed the serious deterioration. As many workers have fallen ill, care has worsened. Virginia Viguera, a 91-year-old resident at the Isabel La Católica-La Ventilla center, was admitted to the hospital with severe foot ulcers. For days, nobody made the necessary postural changes, according to the complaint that his daughter Mayte Caballero has filed with the Prosecutor’s Office. Her mother was admitted to the hospital on May 11.
“When they banned visits, I said that God catches us confessed. Let’s see what we find when they open ”, regrets Caballero. “And look, I didn’t have to wait for the reopening.”
The Community of Madrid is working on a de-escalation plan for residences that includes family visits from phase 2, according to a document seen by EL PAÍS. The 14-page plan has been sent to the residences for comment.
It is now 90 days of quarantine since the doors were closed on March 9 and for now there are no signs of change. The Community document says nothing about when non-dependent residents could take to the streets.
There are families that have taken their elders out of the residences despite the fact that in many cases they are large dependents and have few resources to care for them at home. For days, at the beginning of the crisis, this escape was prohibited, but in late March the Community and the centers gave that option when they were already overwhelmed.
Oulad, who came to Spain from Morocco in the 1960s, has no relatives in Madrid or any other home to go to. A worker at the residence says it is dangerous to let them out because they can bring the virus from the street. For now, he has no choice but to continue seeing the city from the balcony and wait for Madrid to advance in its de-escalation to regain freedom.
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Do you know cases of irregularities in residences in the Community of Madrid during the coronavirus crisis? Contact the reporters [email protected] or [email protected] or text them on Twitter to @FernandoPeinado or @jdquesada
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