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Freedom! In France, a Nursing Home Takes on COVID and Wins

Associated Press

   As the coronavirus scythed through nursing homes, cutting a deadly
   path, Valerie Martin vowed to herself that the story would be different
   in the home she runs in France.

   The action she took to stop the virus from infecting and killing the
   vulnerable older adults in her care was both drastic and effective:
   Martin and her staff locked themselves in with the 106 residents.

   For 47 days and nights, staff and residents of the Vilanova nursing
   home on the outskirts of the east-central city of Lyon waited out the
   coronavirus storm together, while COVID-19 killed tens of thousands of
   people in other homes across Europe, including more than 9,000 in
   France.

   "I said, 'No. Not mine. My residents still have so much to live for,'"
   Martin said in an interview. "I don't want this virus to kill them when
   they have been through so much."

   On Monday, Martin and 12 colleagues who stayed in the home for the full
   duration ended their quarantine with hugs of celebration and singing,
   and with an uplifting victory: Coronavirus tests conducted on the
   residents and staff all came back negative. The caregivers, who
   nicknamed themselves "the happily confined," left in a convoy of cars,
   joyously honking horns and heading for reunions with families, pets and
   homes.

   "We succeeded," Martin said. "Every day, every hour, was a win."

   While COVID-19 killed people by the dozens at some other homes, Martin
   said there were just four deaths at Vilanova during their lockdown and
   that none appears to have been linked to the virus. The average age of
   residents at the home is 87 and the deaths were not unexpected, she
   said.

   Because staff and residents were locked in together, Vilanova didn't
   have to confine people to their rooms like other homes to shield them
   from the risk of infection brought in from outside. That spared
   residents the loneliness that has been agonizing for others. Vilanova
   allowed residents to continue to mingle and to get fresh air outside.

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