让-弗朗索瓦从新冠病毒出现之后，就没有离开过法国东部的养老院去探望他的女儿或妹妹。实际上，这位74岁的老人认为自己已经有两个月没出门了。
His situation is not unusual. Nursing homes in the country have used lockdowns to protect their residents from the sharp rise in new infections that began in autumn.
他的情况并不稀奇。法国的养老院已经采取了封锁措施，以防止养老院住户受到秋季开始新增感染急剧上升的影响。
But, those measures are suspended for the holiday season through January 3. France took the action to try to ease the mental suffering and sense of aloneness that COVID-19 has caused, especially among older people.
但是，这些措施在1月3日之前的节假日期间将会暂时停止执行。法国采取这一行动，试图缓解新冠肺炎造成的精神痛苦和孤独感，尤其是老人当中。
So Jean-Francois can now travel to his daughter's home and stay for a while.
所以让-弗朗索瓦现在可以去女儿家呆上一阵子。
He is not sure such a trip is worth the risk of getting COVID-19. "I'm very scared," he said.
他不确定这趟行程是否值得冒着感染新冠肺炎的风险。他说：“我非常害怕。”
Also, the year-end gift of freedom comes with conditions. Residents who travel will be forced to spend a week alone in their rooms when they return to protect others from possible infection.
此外，这份年终的自由礼物还有附加条件。为了防止他人可能受到感染，出门的养老院住户将被迫在他们的房间里独自呆上一个星期。
Jean-Francois does not like that idea. "A week isn't very long," he said, "but it's extremely long for us." He does not want to hurt his daughter's feelings, but he says he would rather stay home.
让-弗朗索瓦不喜欢这个主意。他说：“一个星期不是太长，但是对我们来说确实很久。”他不想伤害女儿的感情，但是他说自己宁愿呆在养老院。
Lucile Grillon is the director of Jean-Francois' nursing home. She worries that people will not visit each other safely. She suggests social distancing guidelines will be ignored or forgotten. So, she is trying to limit the holiday visits as much as possible.
露西尔·格里永是让-弗朗索瓦住的这家养老院的负责人。她担心人们无法安全地互相探访。她暗示扩大社交距离措施会被忽略或遗忘。因此，她正试图尽可能地限制假期探访。
"The virus isn't going to say, ‘'It is Christmas.' I'm not going to contaminate people,'" Grillon notes.
格里永表示：“病毒可不会说，圣诞节到了我就不感染人。”
More than 60,000 people have died of the disease in France. Almost one-third of the deaths were inside nursing homes. The three nursing homes that Grillon leads have successfully avoided infections in the current severe spread of the virus.
法国有超过6万人死于这种疾病。几乎有1/3的死亡案例发生在养老院内。格里永负责的3家养老院已经成功避免了当前肆虐的这种病毒的感染。
Valerie Martin is the director of the Vilanova nursing home, near the city of Lyon. Earlier this year, she and other employees took part in a six-week lockdown at the home to lower the COVID risk they present to residents.
瓦莱莉·马丁是里昂市附近维拉诺瓦养老院的负责人。今年年初，她和其他员工在养老院进行了为期6周的封锁，以降低他们给养老院住户带来新冠病毒的风险。
Martin will release six residents on Christmas Day and possibly another four on New Year's Day. Vilanova was COVID-free until November, when a resident caught the virus during a hospital stay and brought it back to the home. The disease spread to 35 people and caused seven deaths.
马丁将在圣诞节放行6名养老院住户，元旦可能还会放行另外4名住户。维拉诺瓦养老院在11月之前都没感染新冠病毒，直到当时一位养老院住户在医院住院期间感染了这种病毒，并将病毒带回了养老院。该病毒传染了35人，并导致7人死亡。
Martin says some families have asked her to lock down Vilanova over the holidays to help stop the spread. But, she says that it is not possible.
马丁表示，一些家庭要求她在假期里封锁维拉诺瓦养老院以阻止病毒传播。但是她说这是不可能的。
"There are people who are in fine health, who aren't COVID-positive, and I am not going to deprive them of their families," she said, adding, "I'm always on the side of freedom for the residents."
她说：“有些人身体健康，没有感染新冠病毒，因此我不会阻止他们见家人，我一直支持要给养老院住户提供自由。”
I'm Armen Kassabian.
我是阿尔蒙·卡萨比恩。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，禁止转载，违者必究！)