Before president Cyril Ramaphosa even announced the nationwide 21-day lockdown, some organisations were already starting to isolate.
Among these, is the Ladies Christian Home, an old age home in Gardens that caters for elderly women in the city.
Ladies Christian Home general manager, Lindsay Lang, said their lockdown started a week before the official lockdown commenced. She said from March 17, the women were already being kept within their confines and were not allowed to go out to do shopping in the nearby busy shopping centre.
Ms Lang said they’re doing all they can to protect the senior citizens.
“When we learnt about the seriousness of the virus, we closed our doors for visitors and we continue to encourage family members to get in touch with us or call their elders, instead of visiting,” she said.
She said they managed to accommodate at least 15 staff members on their premises during the lockdown.
“We realised that most of them use public transport and not everyone has access to masks on public transport, so to protect our ladies, we provided them with accommodation,” she said.
She said staff members were being monitored on entry and gloves and sanitisers, provided. She said they were grateful to ward councillor Dave Bryant who gave them masks. “We realised that the masks were quite expensive and our councillor came to our rescue, providing the home with enough masks for the staff,” she said.
Ms Lang said at times, the women seem to feel lonely and bored and they try to be there for them. She said their activities haven’t been the same. “It’s been a challenge to keep them busy, but luckily, we have our garden and our ladies manage to go there. We organised special tea for them on Sundays and they seem to be enjoying that,” she said.
She added that they were worried about the uncertainty caused by the pandemic. She said they welcome donations from the public. “We’ve had some family members calling and telling us they won’t even be able to pay for their elders this month. We don’t know what the future holds,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Nazareth Care in Vredehoek is taking measures to curb the spread of Covid-19. The home said they recognise the risk in South Africa, especially among the elderly and children they care for.
“We have created a response group to deal with applicable matters. This includes dealing with issues such as monitoring the spread of Covid-19, assessing the risk of contamination and taking measures to ensure that the workplace remains safe,” they said.
They said the team works hard to research, establish, update and circulate the necessary documentation, protocols, posters and communication for preventative measures around the coronavirus across all Nazareth Houses. Visits have also been restricted. “All public events, including market days, support group meetings and open days at all houses have been suspended indefinitely,” they said.
Donations are still welcome. For more information, contact: www.nazhouse.org.za/cape-town-house.php and www.lch.co.za/
