Elderly People Silent Victims of COVID-19

COVID-19 restrictions worsened elderly people's feelings of isolation and neglect by their friends and loved ones in Hwange.

BY LETHOKUHLE NKOMO | @The_CBNews | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | OCT 5, 2022

Elderly people living in care homes feel abandoned by their families and friends. COVID-19 restrictions made the situation even worse. Without support, the situation for many could lead to a total mental breakdown.

HWANGE (The Citizen Bulletin) — Elton Phiri* (89) staggers as he carries his old mat. He heads to the big mango tree where he wants to relax under the shade.

After struggling to sit, he slowly stretches his feet as he tries to take a rest. With no one to talk to, Phiri remembers how Old Badala was a vibrant old people's home.

There are only a few left, some have died and some God knows what happened to them

“I remember this was once a good place prior to COVID-19; people used to come in their numbers to give us food, but since the beginning of the pandemic, a few people showed interest in visiting us.”
Elton Phiri*, an old man living at old people’s home

Phiri is among the few elderly people in Hwange residing at Old Badala home who have found the going tough as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. They feel isolated and neglected by their friends and loved ones.

Nursing homes such as Old Badala implemented drastic measures such as restricting visitors and prohibiting group activities. But these measures took a toll on elderly people kept at their homes.

Carol Cullins, a Hwange based psychologist, says measures implemented to protect the elderly led to some financial and emotional consequences.

“One protective mechanism which is isolation of older adults, resulted in unintended physical, mental, emotional, social, and financial consequences during the (COVID-19) pandemic.”
Carol Cullins, a psychologist

The economic effects of COVID-19 also forced income facilities in Hwange to abandon the old age tradition of taking care of the elderly.

Priscilla Gavi, Executive Director of Help Age Zimbabwe says old people are the silent victims of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The community saw elderly people as an extra strain in the face of the pandemic,” Gavi says. “Although it is against our culture, some families took their elderly to old people’s homes as a way to unburden themselves,” she adds.

ALSO READ: COVID-19 Upends Working Conditions for the Worst in Mining Sector

According to HelpAge international, Zimbabwe care homes have experienced a 60 percent increase in admission since the emergence of COVID-19 in March 2020. People aged 70 and above make up less than 3 percent of Zimbabwe’s population of about 15 million and often became casualties of belt tightening.

The old Badala home in Hwange relied on donations from Hwange residents and the corporate world but at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic most companies abruptly ceased their donations, for different reasons.

Do you have a hyperlocal story to share?

WhatsApp us on: +263 71 863 6459.  Email us on: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Since You’re Here, We’ve a Small Request…

Our hard-hitting hyperlocal reporting and analysis reaches one in every three people across the greater region of Matabeleland, southwestern Zimbabwe. That means our content reaches approximately 60,000 readers each week. However, in order for our well-rounded journalism to reach more people who need it to make informed decisions about their lives and their communities, we need to build a strong audience of followers that would receive our rigorous reporting in just one place. Because of exorbitant internet data costs, we know most of our readers use messaging apps such as WhatsApp to get all our content in one place. But the platform, predominantly used by our readers, is not primarily designed for content distribution and reader engagement. That is why we’re building a WhatsApp Bot to navigate this challenge. But in order for this strategy to work effectively to serve our needs, we want all our casual readers like you to be part of our growing WhatsApp Community. To be part of this community of registered users, WhatsApp the word "JOIN" to +263 71 863 6459. We look forward to engaging and building a lasting relationship with you. Thank you.