9 Ways You Can Help Your Elderly Neighbors during COVID-19

Updated November 9, 2020.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc with our lives, many expats are concerned about elderly neighbors and wondering how they can help. While it’s natural to want to pitch in at a time like this, it’s a tricky question as this collective is extremely vulnerable. Should you offer to run errands so they can avoid people and public places? Or do you run the risk of inadvertently delivering the virus to their door yourself? 

It may be that the most helpful thing you can do is stay away. However, if you’re concerned about someone, remember Catalans tend to have close-knit families and are allowed to leave their homes to care for relatives. Therefore, it’s probably worth contacting the family first to check your help is warranted and welcome. If it is, as far as possible avoid face-to-face contact (communicate by phone or a note in the stairwell). Remember to observe basic prevention advice (see below) and advise anyone you’re in contact with to do the same.

A Few Things You Could Do:

1. Set up or join a WhatsApp group for your comunidad to keep in touch.

2. Check whether any local community groups or charities are coordinating to provide services for the elderly, sick or vulnerable and contact them to see if you can help or donate. 

3. Offer to go shopping for groceries or pick up medicines (you may need authorization). 

4. Even better, order your neighbor’s groceries for them online or by phone. Check suppliers have procedures in place to minimize the chance of transmission during delivery. 

5. Cleaning services are likely to be canceled for the duration, so offer to clean the stairwell (remember to disinfect any communal surfaces you touch).

6. Take down the trash. 

7. Take the dog for a walk or pets to the vet if the owner can’t get out.

8. Call your neighbor to chat, or let them know they can call you.  

9. Sadly, there will always be a few unscrupulous people who try to take advantage of a situation like this and several frauds have been reported targeting the elderly. Read up and let your neighbors know what to look out for. 

Current Prevention Recommendations:

• Practice frequent hand washing with soap and water or alcohol gels. This is better than wearing gloves, which can give a false sense of security. 
•  Wear a mask. Recent studies indicate that the transmission of the coronavirus has been primarily via aerosols—the microscopic droplets we breathe out. Also, remember that it is currently mandatory to wear a mask at all times while in public.
• Practice social distancing. If you must go out, stay two to three meters away from other people.
• Limit your contacts. Many people feel lonely, isolated and anxious after months of living with the pandemic and the uncertainty it has introduced into our lives. By creating a "quarantine bubble" with your friends and family you can limit your risk while also maintaining social contact with those closest to you.
• Keep in mind that the coronavirus can survive up to three days on some surfaces, so avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth, as the hands can facilitate transmission. 
• A recent study found that up to 25% of secondary infections occur by infected individuals even before they are symptomatic, underscoring the importance of practicing social distancing.   

It goes without saying that if you have Covid-19 symptoms yourself, or think you may have been exposed, you need isolate yourself and have no contact with others. And remember, it can take up to two weeks for symptoms to develop following exposure. 

Further Information

Since the situation is constantly changing, keep up to date with the latest advice from reliable sources: 

Consorci Sanitari de Barcelona Coronavirus and COVID-19 Q&A

World Health Organization (WHO) Coronavirus and COVID-19 Q&A

World Health Organization (WHO)  Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Coronavirus and COVID-19 Q&A

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control Coronavirus and COVID-19 Q&A

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health  Podcasts about the coronavirus

Centro de Coordinación de Alertas y Emergencias Sanitarias (CCAES) (in Spanish)

Generalitat de Catalunya Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 Info (in Catalan)

Kate Williams is a freelance writer, editor, translator and Director of The Writer Stuff. She left her native England for Barcelona in 2003 and never looked, or went, back. When she isn’t writing or discovering all the cool stuff going on in the city, she enjoys hiking in the Catalan countryside, kayaking on the Costa Brava, and volunteers at a local animal sanctuary. You can read more by Kate here.

Numbers to Call in Barcelona

The city of Barcelona wishes to attend everyone with questions or concerns as expediently as possible, and asks that only those with serious medical emergencies call the emergency services number: 112.

If you are worried or have questions you can call 010 or 012.

If you are feeling unwell, please call 061.