Jaír F. Coll

When Covid arrived at the San Miguel Nursing Home in Cali, Colombia, 59 residents out of 254 contracted the virus in early August 2020. All of them recovered, thanks to rigorous biosecurity measures and a polytherapy consisting of three drugs (ivermectin, nitazoxanide and aspirin) in the early period of the disease.

However, visits from friends and family were suspended for more than a year, which has led to a much greater sense of loneliness among the elderly, who daily have to deal with diseases such as diabetes, hypertension or COPD, but also with mental conditions that cause depression, anxiety or neuro-cognitive disorder.

That is why, while the residents were waiting for the return of their daily lives ad portas of 2021, they found a slight relief in the activities that at the beginning of the pandemic were unthinkable inside the nursing home, such as couple kisses, Eucharist or lighting a candle on Candlemas Day, as well as establishing contact with the outside world by means of video calls.

Almost 80% of the people who have died from covid in Colombia since the pandemic began are over 60 years of age, with more than 100 victims.