[ti:Holiday-COVID Policies Lead to Hard Choices at French Nursing Homes] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]Jean-Francois has not left his nursing home in eastern France [00:05.84]to visit his daughter or sister since COVID-19 appeared. [00:12.56]In fact, the 74-year-old thinks it has been two months [00:17.52]since he even stepped outside the building. [00:21.64]His situation is not unusual. [00:24.52]Nursing homes in the country have used lockdowns [00:29.16]to protect their residents from the sharp rise [00:32.60]in new infections that began in autumn. [00:36.32]But, those measures are suspended [00:39.28]for the holiday season through January 3. [00:44.20]France took the action to try to ease the mental suffering [00:49.12]and sense of aloneness that COVID-19 has caused, [00:54.44]especially among older people. [00:58.12]So Jean-Francois can now travel [01:01.64]to his daughter's home and stay for a while. [01:05.52]He is not sure such a trip is worth the risk of getting COVID-19. [01:12.20]"I'm very scared," he said. [01:16.20]Also, the year-end gift of freedom comes with conditions. [01:22.16]Residents who travel will be forced [01:25.40]to spend a week alone in their rooms when they return [01:29.68]to protect others from possible infection. [01:33.84]Jean-Francois does not like that idea. [01:38.28]"A week isn't very long," he said, [01:41.64]"but it's extremely long for us." [01:45.84]He does not want to hurt his daughter's feelings, [01:49.36]but he says he would rather stay home. [01:53.52]Lucile Grillon is the director of Jean-Francois' nursing home. [01:59.48]She worries that people will not visit each other safely. [02:05.28]She suggests social distancing guidelines [02:09.16]will be ignored or forgotten. [02:13.40]So, she is trying to limit the holiday visits as much as possible. [02:20.76]"The virus isn't going to say, ‘'It is Christmas.' [02:25.08]I'm not going to contaminate people,'" Grillon notes. [02:30.60]More than 60,000 people have died of the disease in France. [02:37.72]Almost one-third of the deaths were inside nursing homes. [02:44.44]The three nursing homes [02:46.48]that Grillon leads have successfully avoided infections [02:51.56]in the current severe spread of the virus. [02:56.72]Valerie Martin is the director of the Vilanova nursing home, [03:02.00]near the city of Lyon. [03:05.52]Earlier this year, she and other employees [03:10.52]took part in a six-week lockdown at the home [03:15.44]to lower the COVID risk they present to residents. [03:21.12]Martin will release six residents on Christmas Day [03:26.08]and possibly another four on New Year's Day. [03:31.20]Vilanova was COVID-free until November, [03:35.28]when a resident caught the virus during a hospital stay [03:39.80]and brought it back to the home. [03:42.72]The disease spread to 35 people and caused seven deaths. [03:49.68]Martin says some families have asked her to lock down Vilanova [03:55.44]over the holidays to help stop the spread. [04:00.04]But, she says that it is not possible. [04:03.76]"There are people who are in fine health, who aren't COVID-positive, [04:08.88]and I am not going to deprive them of their families," she said, [04:14.72]adding, "I'm always on the side of freedom for the residents." [04:22.48]I'm Armen Kassabian. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM