A10 CORONAVIRUS O THEGLOBEANDMAIL | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2020
Whyareolderadultsatgreaterrisk?
COVID-19 is much more serious for older adults. Data
published last month by the Chinese Center for Disease
Control and Prevention indicate the fatality rate was 14.
per cent among those 80 and older, and 8 per cent
among those ages 70 to 79. By comparison, the fatality
rate was 0.2 per cent among those 10 to 39.
Explaining why older adults are more vulnerable in-
volves some educated guesswork, says emergency phy-
sician Michael Curry, an associate professor at the Uni-
versity of British Columbia. Older people tend to have
other health problems, he says. For instance, respiratory
diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD), can make it difficult to clear secretions from the
lungs, and diabetes can make it more difficult to fight off
infections.
Also, your immune system may not function as vigor-
ously when you are older, he says.WhatspecificprecautionsshouldI
take?
Respiratory infections are often spread by hand contact,
so the simplest thing you can do to protect yourself is to
wash your hands thoroughly and frequently, regardless
of your age, Dr. Curry says.
“It is one of the best defences we have,” he says.
If you’re an older adult, you may want to avoid expo-
sure to people with respiratory symptoms, including
grandchildren who have a cold, and visiting daycares or
hospitals, Dr. Curry suggests. But if you’re not ill, it’s nei-
ther realistic nor necessary for you to become a hermit
and stay home-bound, he says.WhatcanIdotoensurealong-term
carehomeissafeforresidents?
A viral outbreak can be particularly challenging for nurs-
ing homes, especially when they’re short-staffed. But
don’t panic; these homes are experienced in handling
outbreaks of flu and other illnesses, and have protocols
in place, says Karen Henderson, founder of the Long
Term Care Planning Network and an independent spe-
cialist in aging and long-term care.
Have a face-to-face conversation with someone from
the home to learn what the protocols are, she suggests.
Ask what you can expect, in terms of the care for resi-
dents. Some questions she suggests: What will happen if
a resident shows symptoms? What is the home’s disin-
fecting protocol? Are staff cleaning equipment, such as
patient lifts, between uses? Are they cleaning telephones
and other communications devices? Are staff being told
to avoid sharing items such as pens and notepads, which
can carry droplets? What is the home doing to screenW
hile illness due to the new coronavirus
is generally mild, about one in five peo-
ple who catch it need hospital care –
and older individuals appear to be at
higher risk of developing serious illness, according
to the World Health Organization.
Canada’s first death from the virus was an elderly
man who lived in a North Vancouver nursing home,
the site of the country’s first outbreak.
What should older adults do to protect them-
selves? Here’s a guide:
visitors and suppliers? Are staff keeping the dining room
open? What happens if a staff member is ill?
Ms. Henderson says communication between care
homes and families is extremely important, but can fall
by the wayside during times such as this. For example,
she says a quick search online revealed multiple homes
had no information about COVID-19 on their websites.
She has also heard complaints from families that
phones are not being answered by staff. While this is un-
derstandable, she says, care home managers should be
assigning someone to answer phones, updating their
websites and sending out regular e-mail updates.
“It’s when families don’t know what’s happening that
they become panic-stricken,” she says.Ispendmywinterssouthofthe
border.ShouldIcutmystayshort
andreturntoCanada?
At this time, Canadian public-health officials are not rec-
ommending that those vacationing in the U.S. return
home early, says Evan Rachkovsky, director of research
and communications for the advocacy organization
Canadian Snowbird Association. His organization is ad-
vising its members to heed the advice of public-health
officials, stay tuned for any changes and new informa-
tion that public-health officials provide and monitor the
Canadiangovernment’s travel advisory site, he says.
(The Public Health Agency of Canada is recommending
that Canadians avoid all cruise ship travel because of the
COVID-19 outbreak.)
People should be reviewing their travel insurance
coverage prior to travelling anyway, but now is a good
time to get in touch with you travel insurance provider
to make sure you don’t run into any issues, Mr. Rachov-
sky says. COVID-19 is not a pre-existing condition, so it
should be covered by most travel insurance policies, he
says. However, as the novel coronavirus becomes a trav-
el concern, a number of insurers are updating their pol-
icies to no longer include the virus as a reason to honour
a cancellation claim.
When you do return, monitor your health for fever,
cough and difficulty breathing for 14 days after you ar-
rive in Canada, and call your local public-health author-
ity if you do experience symptoms, the Public Health
Agency of Canada advises.Whatshould
olderpeopleand
snowbirdsdoto
protectthemselves
againstCOVID-19?
WENCY LEUNG
HEALTHREPORTER
Above left: North Vancouver’s Lynn Valley Care
Centre, a seniors care home that housed an elderly
man who recently died from the new coronavirus,
is seen on Monday.
Above right: A woman in a wheelchair wears a
protective mask as she is pushed down the
street in Rome on Friday.
ABOVE LEFT: JENNIFER GAUTHIER/REUTERS;
ABOVE RIGHT: MARCO DI LAURO/GETTY IMAGES
A
new analysis by a team of
Canadian and internation-
al researchers suggests
that the novel coronavirus can
be transmitted by infected indi-
viduals before symptoms devel-
op – a possibility that could ex-
plain why the spread of the epi-
demic has proved so difficult to
contain after it first appears in a
new location.
If accurate, the findings pose a
challenge to health officials who
are assessing their strategies for
dealing with the COVID-19 epi-
demic.
“It makes this very different
from something like SARS,” said
Caroline Colijn, a co-author on
the study and an applied mathe-
matician at Simon Fraser Univer-
sity in British Columbia who spe-
cializes in modelling infectious
disease.
“It means we would not be
able to stop all the transmission
events by focusing on cases who
have already developed symp-
toms.”
One reason that the SARS epi-
demic in 2003 was ultimately
contained to about 8,100 cases
worldwide is that those who
were spreading the infection al-
ready knew they were sick. As of
Tuesday, the World Health Orga-
nization reported that more than
113,000 people have contracted
COVID-19.
The new analysis underscores
the importance of social distanc-
ing and other strategies that seek
to limit opportunities for contact
with individuals who may be in-Viruscanbetransmittedbefore
symptomsdevelop,analysissuggests
FindingsbyCanadianandinternationalresearcherscouldindicatenewchallengeforofficialstryingtocontainepidemic’sspread
IVAN SEMENIUK
SCIENCEREPORTER
A microscope image shows
the novel coronavirus,
orange, emerging from the
surface of cells, green,
cultured in the lab. The
sample was isolated from a
patient in the United States.
NIAID-RML VIA AP