" For their protection, we ask to the most vulnerable people, the elderly, to remain confined even after the 11 may, at least in a first time. "It was on April 15, in other words there is an eternity. That day, Emmanuel Macron pronounced his final televised speech in the confinement period and announces the fateful date of 11 may for the beginning of the déconfinement progressive. His speech, welcomed by the majority of the French, tenses up, however, the elderly, ordered to stay locked up in their homes as long as possible. A few days earlier, it is Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the european Commission, who explained that it would probably have to be that senior citizens will remain confined until the end of the year 2020. What strongly worry about the elders.
Read also the Face of the containment, the blues of grand-parents
Before the uproar caused by the statement of the head of State, the Government finally decides to do an about-face from the 17 April. Without waiting for the press conference of the Prime minister, intended to clarify the ads, the Palace indicated that the president does "not want of discrimination of older people" and instead refers to the " individual responsibility of each person ". "This announcement had me really made her mad with rage," remembers Christine, a young grandmother of 67 years. "I'm part of the vulnerable because I have over 65 years of age, but, personally, I feel in excellent shape. It is to stay at home, isolated, which would have made me much more difficult, " said this resident of the Hauts-de-Seine.
The syndrome shift, responsible for many deaths ?
today, Christine returns slowly to its habits : the market, the parts of bridge with his friends, but also visits to her disabled son who lives in a specialized structure at approximately 50 kilometres of his home. This is what it has the most missed during the confinement. "We are the one and the other at-risk individuals, but, after two and a half months, I have not been able to prevent me from going to see it. Without it, I probably would have sunk, " says the sexagenarian. For Jean-Paul Hamon, general practitioner, it is in fact "indispensable" that the seniors begin to exit. "It must be that they were aired, if not, they are going to get weird !" says the president of the Federation of doctors of France.
This last was also a correlation between the large number of deaths in the long-term care facilities, and isolation. "There are certainly as many deaths in the long-term care facilities because of the Covid-19 that the syndrome of slippage," says dr. Hamon. According to him, the rapid deterioration of the physical state of many elderly people, would be intimately linked to the deterioration of their mental state. "It is important to note that there have been fewer deaths among the elderly at home or in a long-term care facilities, where residents have been cut off from the world," says the doctor. If he called the seniors to go out, however, he emphasized the importance to adhere strictly to the gestures barriers, as well as the port of the mask. "They remain and will remain at-risk individuals," admits the doctor.
Between caution and the need of freedom
"All the world is trying to resume a normal life, but keeping the health precautions to avoid contamination a little stupid," says Daniel, 82 years of age. For this retired person living in the Côtes-d'armor, no question, however, tempt the devil. "With my wife, we go to the big stores when the need in fact to feel, with a mask and standing as far away as possible from people. On the other hand, we would not have the idea to go to the movie theater or restaurant, for example, " says Daniel. Aware of its " vulnerability ", he summarises : "We are still a little bit in the trench, it does not leave too much head. "
Read also Against the isolation of elderly people, "the calls of conviviality"
Catherine, she didn't really feel any difference before and after the 2 June, the date which marked the beginning of "phase 2" of the déconfinement. At 71 years old, this grandmother of four grandchildren has gone back to work in mid-may. General practitioner retired, she has for many years been regulatory to the Uas 95. "My two girls were concerned with the idea that I work and that I way of the world during this period, then I stopped for a moment ", explains she. But after a break of about a month, she returned to take the calls to the Uas. A week ago, this grandmother has also returned to her grandchildren, that she was accustomed to keep every Wednesday at normal time. "During the confinement, I had the impression that I was deprived of my freedom. But back to work and seeing my grandchildren has been a rebirth, " explains Catherine. For her, the more of the question to stay shut, despite the risks that still has the virus.
It must be realistic, the virus is circulating much less.
Since his return to Uas, she was also able to see that the calls related to the Covid had significantly decreased. "We need to be realistic, the virus is circulating much less. Now, there are calls for depressions, anxiety attacks, or constipation, opinionated in people who are not at all customary for the fact... As so many signs which show that people are worried about, that they stayed too long in them ! It was really time to find a semblance of normal life, " says Catherine.
"I am not aware of the risks"
Monique, she, too, would like to be able to begin to reclaim his life before. If she was able to return to the market and see his doctor for a check-up, she is now waiting to find his grandchildren. "Since the beginning of the confinement, my son and my daughter are regularly came to visit us, we do the shopping. They touched nothing, stayed away from us. But they preferred to not track their children, who are great now, " she said.
If the lack is felt, Monique, however, remains concerned : "I very much want to see them, but my grandchildren have their buddies, they have seen the world, they are out in the street... I am not aware of the risk," says Monica, a 84-year-old. She hopes all the same that the Mother's day, this Sunday, will be the opportunity to meet. And to conclude : "After several days of reflection, we said that there would always be a risk, but that we are no longer young and that we'd like to see them, being careful... Because after all, every week that goes by without that we track our children is a week of lost. "
