Rather Die of Covid Than Loneliness. Thanks, Polismoker.
About three years ago, I crashed a bike and broke my leg. Spent a little time at Fairacres, because it's not only a nursing home, but a rehab facility.
Great people.
Posted on 10/09/2020 5:53:59 AM PDT by real saxophonist
Fairacres Manor residents protest state COVID-19 rules against physical contact
“We want to see our families. We miss the hugs,” one resident said
By ANNE DELANEY
October 8, 2020
A group of residents at a Greeley skilled long-term care and memory-support facility are tired of COVID-19 social distancing regulations, and they held a protest to register their displeasure.
“Enough is enough. Set us free,” Fairacres Manor resident Josie Sanchez said through a microphone Thursday afternoon while parked in her wheelchair on 16th Street across from North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley.
Sanchez, 76 years old, was one of organizers of the protest. She was joined by approximately 19 of her fellow Fairacres residents as they sat in their wheelchairs on the sidewalk in front of the medical-center parking garage for two hours while the 16th Street traffic passed by with some drivers honking their horns.
The residents held signs and some waved to the motorists. One of the signs read: “We want families back.” The theme of the signs was the same and they were all directed at state officials: let us hug our families.
According to state guidelines from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, physical contact is not allowed between Fairacres residents and their visitors during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The Fairacres residents don’t care for the rules. They understand Fairacres has to enforce them.
“We want to see our families,” said 75-year-old Sharon Peterson, worked with Sanchez in organizing the protest. “We miss the hugs. We don’t like the distancing anymore.”
Fairacres Manor Assistant Administrator Ben Gonzales said visitors are allowed five days per week inside the 18th Avenue facility. The residents and their guests have to be 6-feet apart — no physical contact is allowed — and they must wear masks and eye protection, according to Gonzales.
Gonzales said Fairacres staff and residents sent letters to CDPHE and Gov. Jared Polis in August, asking for the rules to be relaxed to allow physical contact. No one has received a response to their inquiries, Gonzales said.
Fairacres, with 95 residents and approximately 160 staffers, was the site of a COVID-19 outbreak early in the pandemic. The outbreak was discovered in late March. From then until mid-May, 16 residents were lab-confirmed positive for COVID-19 with another two dozen residents determined to be probable cases, according to CDPHE data.
There were eight lab-confirmed COVID-19 deaths among residents and five unconfirmed deaths from the disease.
A total of 46 Fairacres staff either tested positive or were probable for COVID-19. Gonzales said there are no cases at Fairacres now. The last known case among staff or residents was on April 18.
Sanchez and Peterson said they feel safe at Fairacres. There are screening measures in place to check visitors before they enter the facility. With that process, then why not allow families and visitors to have physical contact with their loved ones, Sanchez and Peterson said.
“It bothers me I’ll get them sick,” Sanchez said. “If we check at the door, then what can happen?”
Gonzales said the screening process is comprised of a temperature check and 15 questions to find out if visitors have any COVID-19 symptoms. Gonzales said the concern at the state level is the disease can be spread through droplets and if people are hugging and kissing, then that is when transmission of the virus can occur.
Sanchez and her husband, Tony, have four children, nine grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. The Sanchez’s daughter, Debbie Sanchez Martinez, died earlier this month of breast cancer at age 50.
Peterson has several nieces and nephews in the area. Peterson’s sister lives in Longmont and comes for a visit once per month.
“We’d like to give each other a hug,” Peterson said.
About three years ago, I crashed a bike and broke my leg. Spent a little time at Fairacres, because it's not only a nursing home, but a rehab facility.
Great people.
It must be awful. I live at home alone, I can go out but there is distancing and masks. I miss smiles and hugs, sitting at a cafe with friends and neighbors, I can’t imagine how hard it would be to have family and have some heartless liberal keep them apart in the last years of your life.
Crimes against humanity.
The way the government is treating people is cruel, inhuman and evil. This is in no way an unforeseen consequence either. Anyone with half a heart or half a brain knows you can’t lock people away from all human contact without hurting them severely.
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