Father in lockdown

My 98 year old father was recently bereaved and we had placed him in a lovely care home in Melbourne. During COVID there were some positive cases at the home. The residents were placed into lockdown. For six weeks Father was not allowed to leave his room. His meals were delivered on paper plates with plastic cutlery. The staff who entered his room were wearing full PPE. He was showered once or twice a week.

We were able to keep in contact with Zoom calls to help break up his day. The local liquor shop was able to make deliveries!

Father has macular degeneration so he is not able to read anymore. He was not able to see his friends who were confined to their rooms in the care home. He was not able to see his family.

Every day my dad would break out of his room and go for a walk with his wheelie-walker. He knows that he has to walk to keep his blood circulation going. He saw no one else while he was out of his room.

It was tragic.

As soon as the lockdown was over I flew down to Melbourne to visit him and hold him in my arms.

The manager of the care home told me that Father displayed an amazing amount of maturity during lockdown.