A local senior citizen advocate and an ageing population specialist are appealing to Jamaicans to exercise extra caution and care for the elderly as attempts are made to stave off the impact of the coronavirus disease on the island.

“My appeal to Jamaicans is that if you have an elderly member in your household please be extra careful and please assist them because some of them cannot assist themselves too well, “ said Jean Lowrie Chin, president of the Caribbean Community of Retired Persons.

“Assist them in the same regimen of hand washing, ensure that they have good supplies of hand sanitiser and of course, help them to keep their immune system strong by being hydrated. Help them to take vitamins.”

She added: “Reach out to the infirmaries because that is where you have a concentration of elderly and they will need extra supplies. Make your donations of the hand sanitisers, the antibacterial soaps, wipes and so on. Ifanyone has to go into isolation, it might be difficult for them if they have a chronic condition and they need medication, to ensure that they have one month’s prescription for the various meds because some of them have hypertension, diabetes, and arthritis.”

Lowrie Chin further appealed to younger individuals to not be callous about the disease.

“It is said that even if they got this virus, they would not suffer greatly from it. [But] if they have an elderly in their household they need to be very, very careful. They could be carrying the virus and they could be fine but if they pass this virus to an elderly member of their family, it could be really serious,” she said.

Similarly, the seniors’ advocate encouraged pastors to reassure their elderly members that not attending church is okay and also urged seniors to follow the instructions of the Ministry of Health and Wellness.

“We all have our favourite doctors but under this regimen, we are reminding everyone, including the elderly, that if you suspect you may have come in contact or have any symptoms, you need to call the hotline numbers of the Ministry of Health and Wellness. Don’t go into the doctor’s office and sit down because you could pass onthis virus to other people” Lowrie Chin stated.

Meanwhile,Professor Denise Eldemire Shearer, public health and ageing expert, shared similar sentiments as Lowrie Chin and emphasised the need to minimise exposure in the elderly population.

“You don’t want them going in crowds, you don’t want them going to places that they can get it. If it is possible, somebody else should go to the pharmacy for them or if they can afford it they should have a couple of months medication at home,” Eldemire Shearer said.

Like Lowrie Chin, Professor Eldemire Shearer also stressed the point of keeping the elderly away from mass gatherings.

“They need to stay away from gatherings like church. That is something the family should think about for the very old. You realise in the early stages even if you’re infected you are not necessarily symptomatic and not everybody is going to have symptoms, especially the younger people,” she said.

Eldemire Shearer also explained that regarding restrictions, while it is recommended that the elderly be kept away from large crowds, families should be mindful that the elderly do not have a lot of social interaction.

Subsequently, they should be careful not to totally restrict as that may cause depression.

Further, Eldemire Shearer said the flu season was still on and it is also the time of year when sinuses and allergies flare.

“So you can be coughing and sneezing. We’re in flu season so you are going to have people coughing and sneezing and you are not going to know who is who.

“It is also the time for sinuses and allergies – you know the rain and the hot and the cold. It’s a time when we have a lot of coughing and sneezing, so you want to be particularly careful,” she said. Apart from age being a risk factor with COVID-19, Eldemire Shearer also outlined that particular chronic conditions compound the seriousness of the illness.

“Those with hypertension and diabetes, lung disease and heart disease is the group which has been identified in other countries as being of a particular risk. So you don’t want a diabetic to be out of control. You don’t want their sugar too high so you need to have adequate management,” she said.

But, with regards to symptoms in the elderly, Eldemire Shearer warned that Jamaicans should not bank on the symptoms that have been listed for younger people.

“We’ve been saying high fevers, coughs, chest pains, chills and those sorts of things. In older people, they may not have a high fever. What might happen is that they might just tell you they are not well. They might be a little bit confused, they might be off their food, so you would want to have them checked. You have to pay attention to any symptoms from older people that are not in keeping with their normal health, she said. Besides, the public health and ageing specialist saidthe signs and symptoms in terms of cough and chest discomfort would be the same. However, she pointed out that older persons with any kind of chest problems have to be watched carefully.

“You would watch for shortness of breath, for chest discomfort. If you have older persons who have asthma or what we call chronic airway disease, respiratory distress — they are also to be watched closely by families,” Eldemire Shearer said while explaining that in such instances one should not panic or make their elderly relatives think they are being watched every minute as that may cause distress.

Moreover, Eldemire Shearer encouraged personal hygiene practices such as hand washing and avoid touching the face.

However, regarding the touching of surfaces she said older people are going to hold onto handrails for support and as such, she encourages the use of a napkin to serve as a barrier between the hand and the surface.

She maintained that with all the precautions applied, she is confident that Jamaica’s elderly have a fighting chance.