Church urged to rally to elderly’s aid in lockdown
Published:Monday | April 20, 2020 | 12:20 AMPaul Clarke/Gleaner Writer
Seventy-six-year-old Rupert Langstaffe was visibly tired as he rested against the wall outside a wholesale in Independence City, Portmore, last Wednesday.
Langstaffe supports the lockdown of St Catherine parish imposed on April 15 as the “right move” but is worried that senior citizens will be severely affected.
“It’s me and me wife at home. We have no young ones around, so I have to come out here to get what we need before the police come to shut it down, but it hard standing out here in the sun,” Langstaffe stated.
It is accounts like Langstaffe’s that has drawn the concern of founding president of the Caribbean Community of Retired Persons (CCRP), Jean Lowrie-Chin, who believes that the Church is best positioned to offer specific assistance to the country’s senior citizens, especially those in St Catherine.
Scores of senior citizens across Portmore, Spanish Town, and Old Harbour struggled on Wednesday and Saturday to navigate long lines to access supermarkets and wholesales, complained about the lack of help accorded them while in public. On Saturday, pandemonium hit Spanish Town, Portmore, and Linstead, with some streets, sidewalks, and shopfronts teeming with the crush of bodies. Social distancing was often observed in the breach, and the alphabetised shopping regime was largely ignored.
“Every parish has a ministers’ fraternal, where church ministers get together and collaborate on various activities,” Lowrie-Chin said. “So I would like to appeal to the St Catherine Ministers’ Fraternal, the Jamaica Council of Churches, and the Jamaica Evangelical group to organise so that our elderly can be checked on.”
St Catherine was placed under lockdown after 33 workers employed to the Alorica call centre in Portmore tested positive for COVID-19. Since then, Alorica’s positive numbers have climbed to 84, with four other infected contacts.
CRITICAL MASS
Lowrie-Chin said that although the CCRP was doing a fair deal of work assisting the elderly, larger movements like the Church had the critical mass to canvass and organise hundreds of thousands of registered members to help in “extraordinary times”.
“These younger volunteers could assist the older folk. In fact, it would be really ideal if these people do not leave their home at all,” she said.
“It would mean that the volunteer would be responsible for making essential purchases or to accompany the elderly on the road to do their business during this lockdown.”
Residents of St Catherine who are 65 years and older have been ordered to stay home except to seek food, medication, and for doctor’s visits.
While lauding Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ proposal for the police to assist senior citizens, the CCRP founder warned that that responsibility would add pressure to the already burdened constabulary.
“This is where the Church is needed to step up because the security forces really do have a lot on their hands now based on what we are seeing,” Lowrie-Chin said.
“This is necessary as a lot of them cannot manage, and we have to be appealing to neighbours and friends and to family to support the elderly, but I think what we probably need now is an organised system to assist our elderly.”