They have had to come to this decision, as there are users in the Iturbide headquarters who have not stepped down the street since last March. They are the first days of the fence, but the residents of the residence have thanked the possibility of going out to catch the wind. “Although it rains, some stay in the shelter because they want to see and hear the rain,” says Olatz Etxabe, director of the residence. When we asked Etxabe about the fence, he told us that it was the necessary solution: “We intended to build a sort of patio of this kind, but the situation of the pandemic has advanced. We needed it and when we saw that it was going long, we talked to the city hall.”

“When we transferred the proposal to the City Hall to improve the quality of life of the residents, the two families had already requested it.” Family members have also had something to do during the pandemic and the situation of residents has led to the reception of the place to breathe. Etxabe informs us of the good reception he has had between family and citizenship: “Residents are at ease, the street is always in the center of town to look at something.”

The residence works in bubbles, and that's how they'll get to the fence as well. Although the fence has been completed, its use by the workers of the residence is still being studied. They are intended to ensure the safety of residents. The workers want residents who do not have cognitive problems to have autonomy to go out to the area on their own, “it was like this before, we had the doors open and they went out when they wanted to sunbathe in front of us”, Etxabe confesses. I asked him if he was afraid of the residents. He has replied that no, that there is no fear, but that they have to act responsibly so that they do not fall back to the bad moments they have experienced during the pandemic. According to information provided by Goiena.eus on April 21, 21 users died at the residence due to COVID-19 infection.

“I saw them wilting”

Since March, there have been no good times for those working in nursing homes or for residents. During the lockdown, they lived completely isolated. Since then, although the lives of those outside the residence have changed and we have had the opportunity to do everything outside of it, the day to day of the residences has been very different. It has been considered a risk group and, according to the argument of protecting their health, they have had little chance of going out in the street, and visits are very scarce.

What have you paid for? The confinement between four walls is not healthy, especially if there is no possibility of breathing the outside air, as in the case of Iturbide. In Iturbide Egoitza, from the very beginning, the activities in which all users participated have been completed: no bingos, no street walks, no group exercise sessions... All this broke the relationships between residents, who have remained isolated and alone for several months. The fear of contagion, the lack of stimuli, the lack of warmth of family members and the inability to go out to the streets have surpassed the elderly. A relative of Father Iturbide said in a ETB program: “I see the adults marching, sadly, chewing.” Residents can die of COVID-19 illness, but also from loneliness and sadness.

Visits with measures and shifts

After some unseen time, it was supposed that residents and their families would long for visits. So it was not as nice visits as was thought. The residence is always visited by the same person. Take the turn, put on the face mask (if it is FFP2, much better), wash your hands and sign on a sheet before entering the residence, so that everything is properly highlighted.

In Iturbide, special rooms have been set up so that residents can be with their families, they cannot climb to the upper floors. Visits are made in the morning or in the afternoon and you have to take the time in advance. “Despite the temptation to hug or zoom in, you have to keep the distance of one and a half meters,” says Etxabe.

So that the second wave doesn't arrive

Although bad times have passed at the Arrasate headquarters, today no positive results can be counted: “We are clean, and we want to keep it so that the second wave does not enter our headquarters.”

If someone has symptoms, they already know how to act at the headquarters. If someone had to be isolated, a PCR test will be performed and if negative, he will be isolated on the doctor's orders during the quarantine. If positive, he would move to the residences of Eibar or Ordizia, as they are entitled to do so. If a worker has symptoms, he or she is asked not to go to work. “That’s the procedure for the time being, in this pandemic things are changing day by day,” Etxabe said.