COVID-19 lockdown: the unspoken toll on the 65þ community in Turkey Ozgur Ates Abstract Ozgur Ates is based at the Purpose – On March 21, 2020, the Turkish Government imposed a curfew for citizens 65 years old and Department of Business over and ordered them to stay at home as a measure to protect them against the COVID-19 outbreak. The Administration, Faculty of curfew ended on June 10, 2020, having lasted 82 days. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Political Science, Ankara significant emotional burden on the elderly, as they felt excluded and battled with despair during the University, Ankara, Turkey. lockdown. Design/methodology/approach – This reflective paper shares the COVID-19 lockdown experiences of the author with a group of elderly residents of a small community in Ankara, Turkey. Through semi- structured interviews and analysis, three overarching themes of the residents’ experience were identified: vulnerability, social isolation/loneliness and ageism. Findings – The elderly in the community are individuals who get their social interaction outside the home. As a result of the nearly three months of social isolation, they have experienced social disconnection and health problems, Originality/value – To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first attempt to give voice to the silenced group of elderly and share their thoughts and feelings during this difficult COVID-19 lockdown in Turkey. Keywords Elderly, COVID-19, Vulnerability, Social isolation, Ageism, Loneliness Paper type Viewpoint ince the Chinese Government locked down the city of Wuhan in January 2020 on account of COVID-19, the disease caused by the corona virus has affected more S than 12.5 million people worldwide, with 560,000 confirmed deaths as of July 12, 2020 (World Health Organization, 2020). The disease continues to spread globally, causing more deaths daily. The outbreak has led to global disruption of daily life as schools and workplaces have shut down to slow the transmission. After Turkey announced its first COVID-19 case on March 10, 2020, the Turkish Government took strict precautions to minimize the spread of the virus through crowds. Thus, the government locked down all restaurants, cafe´s, shopping malls, stores and movie theaters. They cancelled sports events and social gatherings and banned weddings and funerals. They also closed prekindergarten through Grade 12 schools, along with universities, and moved from face-to-face to distance-learning platforms. A week later, on March 18, 2020, the Minister of Health, Dr Fahrettin Koca, announced the first COVID-19-related death in Turkey. The patient was an 89-year-old man who suffered from acute respiratory failure due to COVID-19. The deceased contracted the virus from someone who had contact with China. During the press conference, it was also noted that the number of elderly patients being admitted to intensive care units (ICU) was increasing. The World Health Organization (WHO) (2002) defines an elderly person as someone who is 65 years or older, and this definition is accepted by most countries. DOI 10.1108/WWOP-07-2020-0037 VOL. 24 NO. 4 2020, pp. 303-311, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1366-3666 j WORKING WITH OLDER PEOPLE j PAGE 303 At the beginning of March 2020, before Turkey had its first COVID-19 case, Italy and Spain had already been hit hard by the pandemic. The daily death tolls reached 1,000, and 90% of the deaths were people aged 70 years and older (Statista, 2020). The medical studies indicated that older individuals needed longer intubation and recovery time and had a lower chance of survival than younger patients (Carrieri et al.,2020). During the same period, WHO Regional Director for Europe Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge stated that older adults were at a significantly increased risk of severe disease following a COVID-19 infection. In April 2020, the top 30 countries that were most affected by the pandemic were the ones with the largest percentages of an elderly population in the world. These countries were all in Europe except for Japan. In total, 95% of these deaths occurred among citizens older than 60 years in age, and more than 50% of the deaths were among people aged 80 and older. Dr Kluge’s message was clear about “the need to protect, care and support older populations” (WHO, 2020). On March 21, the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, imposed a partial curfew for citizens over the age of 65 and under the age of 20 and ordered them to stay at home as a measure to protect them against the COVID-19 outbreak. The age group 20 years and younger was also included in this partial curfew because studies (UK Research and Innovation, 2020) showed that children can play a role in transmitting COVID-19 to adults without showing any symptoms. It was called a “partial curfew” because citizens between the ages of 20 and 65 years were still allowed to go out. This curfew ended on June 10, having lasted 82 days. Demographics of the elderly in Turkey Turkey has an elderly population of 7.2 million people, which equals 9.1% of the total population. According to Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) 2019 data, about 760,000 elderly individuals are currently in the workforce. Considering that older people play a less active role in the Turkish economy, reinforcing a curfew to ban the elderly from leaving their homes seemed an optimal solution to keep them safe while reducing the impact on the economy. According to the same TUIK data, 1,373,000 elderly residents live alone, and about 80% do not use the internet. During the curfew, the elderly who lived alone needed the most assistance of any group in buying their groceries, getting medications and withdrawing cash from the bank. This pandemic has brought significant emotional and financial burden to all of Turkish society, yet for the elderly, the emotional burden has been the most significant. I witnessed and lived through their struggles for three months as they felt excluded and battled with despair. I also observed their strong will to live yet concurrent acceptance of whatever their fate might be. In this reflective paper, I first share my own experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic as a caregiver for a group of elderly residents living in a small community. Then, I share their firsthand stories of how they felt about the pandemic and the policies enforced by the government that forced them to stay at home for three months without being able to see their loved ones during a time of crisis when they needed their support the most. Living with the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic I reside in a small community popular among retirees in Ankara, Turkey. In this community, there are 165 elderly citizens who typically spend their time taking strolls and gardening all year round. Most of the elderly have been living in this residential area for 30 years, since it was first built; therefore, they consider each other as family. I also grew up in this community, and five years ago, I bought a house here to live closer to my 74-year-old mother. I have known my elderly neighbors since my childhood and address them as auntie/uncle. Although they are over 70 years of age, they are independent and are PAGE 304 j WORKING WITH OLDER PEOPLE j VOL. 24 NO. 4 2020 generally in good health with only minor health problems. Before the pandemic, they were busy with daily errands and activities and enjoyed life. My mother, with whom I have a very close relationship, is one of the healthy and very active residents. She does all her own housework and loves cooking. She meets with her friends in the community and spends time with them regularly. They love to drink traditional Turkish coffee together. She enjoys baking cookies and cakes and always shares them with her friends. Twice a week, I take her to the local farmer’s market, followed by a trip to the grocery store. It is our tradition to dine out once a week on Sundays with two of her friends and their daughters from our community. My mother is an extrovert who thrives on social interaction. Beyond this community, I work as a faculty member at one of the public universities in Ankara. I interact with hundreds of students in class and on campus. Until the first COVID- 19 case was announced in Turkey, none of us had heard of the terms “social distancing” or “self-quarantine.” Even after the first case was reported, we did not fully understand what these precautions meant, as we continued our normal routines (e.g. teaching classes and giving exams) without any interruptions. The first interruption was when our faculty administration informed us that an exchange student who was studying in Italy had returned to campus without quarantining and came in close contact with many. We were cautioned about this potential risk and infection. Soon after this, about a week later, the government made the decision to close all schools and universities in Turkey. Health officials warned us about how the virus spreads quickly and that older citizens were at immense risk. Given my position and my close contact with 600 students that I teach every week, I decided to self- isolate and self-quarantine at home to protect my mother and elderly neighbors. That is when I realized the pandemic was real and dangerous. On March 21, the government restricted citizens over 65 years old from leaving their homes. Those who violated the ban would have to pay a fine of 3,150 Turkish liras, which is approximately US$460.