In quarantine, elderly Ukrainians struggle with isolation, helplessness

Until recently, Margaryta Pestrikova’s favorite pastime was baking walnut cookies or making Ukrainian dumplings called varenyky and bringing them to her nephew or former colleagues. Regular trips to other parts of Kyiv would brighten the 82-year-old retiree’s otherwise lonely life.

Now she can’t go anywhere. 

The city authorities have suspended public transport as part of broad quarantine measures to stop the spread of the viral COVID-19 pandemic. They have also urged citizens — particularly, the elderly — to stay home.

The novel coronavirus has proved particularly deadly for elderly people and those with underlying medical conditions such as diabetes or heart diseases. Ukraine’s health officials don’t disclose the age of 113 confirmed patients with COVID-19, but three out of four deaths to date have been people aged 56, 68, and 71.

There are 8.5 million Ukrainians over 60 who receive state pensions, according to the Pension Fund. Of them, 1.5 million people are 80 and older.

But while retirees would seem to be among the Ukrainians best positioned to heed the government’s call and stay home, quarantine is proving especially difficult for them. Not only have the restrictions deprived many elderly people of social interactions but they have also disrupted their daily routines and increased their dependence on others’ help.

Dependence

Pestrikova lives with her sister-in-law, 83, who is disabled after a stroke and was assigned a social worker.

“The social worker calls every day, but I take care of my sister-in-law while I can. I buy groceries, cook, clean and go to the pharmacy,” she told the Kyiv Post over the phone.

Until public transport was shut down, Pestrikova was able to manage these chores on her own. Now she has to either ask her neighbors to bring her groceries or wait for her nephew to give her a ride to the pharmacy.

The nearest supermarket is 20-30 minutes away by foot, a difficult distance for her to walk.

“It’s so wrong to stop public transport,” she said. “Our neighborhood has no grocery store nearby.”

Kyiv resident Tamara Malyzheva, 74, has not been coping well with restrictions on public transport either. She doesn’t leave her home much these days except to receive her pension or buy food.

“It’s illogical. A smart person would send more buses so that people wouldn’t overcrowd them but could still go where they need to,” she told the Kyiv Post by phone.

Forced immobility makes Malyzheva feel dependent on the help of others.

This month, her granddaughter submitted her electricity and water meter readings online so that she didn’t have to go to the utilities office in person. After a local bank branch closed due to the quarantine and an ATM swallowed her card, she had to again rely on her granddaughter, who biked from another part of the city.

“I don’t have the heart to ask (my children and grandchildren) for help. They offer help but they live so far. How will they get here if there’s no public transport? And I don’t want to put them at risk of getting infected,” she told the Kyiv Post.

She said she has been keeping in touch with her family and friends over the phone.

“We worry about each other, especially those who live alone. We call each other and offer money and help.”

In Ukraine, it is not uncommon for several generations to live in the same household. Grandparents often look after grandchildren while their parents are at work. However, during a pandemic, this family model poses additional risks of infection for all members.

Kyiv resident Svitlana Shobukhova, 60, shares an apartment with her mother, daughter, and granddaughter. 

She and her daughter took a break from work and have been staying at home, but the whole experience has been extremely difficult for the family. Shobukhova worries for her 89-year-old mother but understands that, at 60 herself, she is reaching the risk group for the coronavirus. At the same time, she looks after a 6-year-old granddaughter with special needs who isn’t dealing well with isolation and the change of routine.

“My mother seems to understand the danger (of COVID-19). She watches news all day. But people of her age can be reckless too. Sometimes she slips out of the house because she simply wants to,” Shobukhova told the Kyiv Post over the phone. “We have to watch her.” 

An elderly woman shops at a supermarket in Kyiv on March 23, 2020. (Volodymyr Petrov)

Support 

To keep the elderly at home, the government assured the public that people wouldn’t be fined for not paying their utility bills during the quarantine and promised that no one’s electricity or water would be shut off for non-payment.

Moreover, the minister for social policy said that the government would launch a program to teach the elderly how to pay bills and order groceries and medications online to minimize their need to go out. But with quarantine already in place, this measure comes a bit late.

It also will face practical challenges. According to an October 2019 survey by the Ukrainian Internet Association, less than a third of all people over 65 use the internet at least once a month.

On March 24, twelve days after the first quarantine measures were imposed, the Kyiv City State Administration established a coordination center to help the most vulnerable social groups, including seniors. 

Additionally, Zhittelyub (“lover of life”), a non-profit organization that helps the elderly, is working with businesses and volunteers to deliver food packages, medications and other essentials on demand.

“We warn the elderly not to open doors to strangers,” Tina Mykhailovska, co-founder of  Zhittelyub, told the Kyiv Post in a message. “There have been incidents when robbers introduce themselves as epidemiological service workers and offer to disinfect their homes.”

She said volunteers should call about delivery time in advance, leave the bags outside the door, and ring the doorbell.

ATB, a chain of lower-end supermarkets, has designated a time slot from 9 to 10 a.m. for the elderly only.

Public awareness campaigns have also called on family members and neighbors to help the elderly with shopping or other errands and talk to them more often, as they may feel lonely at home.

There is, however, no separate helpline where seniors suffering from loneliness and anxiety can call for counseling during mandatory self-isolation.