Nowhere is the sting of COVID-19 being felt more strongly than in the country's aged care facilities.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Since the spread of the pandemic began, Maranatha House in Wellington has had to put their plans for the country's first of it's kind inter-generational care facility on hold in order to ensure the residents' safety.
Maranatha Chairman Terry Frost said that the alteration in their immediate plans is a big blow for both the staff and residents, but so is a halt to visiting times for Maranatha's elderly.
"It's having an enormous impact right now, people are unable to visit, or if they can visit, their contact is very limited," Mr Frost said.
READ ALSO:
The lockdown is also a blow for some of Wellington's students, with children from St Mary's Catholic School who used to attend visit at Maranatha now unable to meet with the residents in aged care.
"They used to have regular visits and it was something everyone here really enjoyed," Mr Frost.
"The kids at St Mary's actually have been reaching out and putting up videos on Facebook and sending video messages to stay in touch."
The touching outreach effort was something that the residents 'really appreciated', according to Frost and it was a particular boost for some of the residents who don't normally receive visitors at all.
St Mary's leader of mission and Ministry Chris Stevens, who helped co-ordinate the effort, said the students drove the effort to maintain contact during COVID-19.
"The kids were just thinking about how they could reach out and give them their support, they genuinely miss the interaction they have with them," Mr Stevens said.
"It's a two way process, the residents get to spend time with the kids, but the kids really rise to the occasion when they're up there, they get a lot out of that interaction."
Among the well wishing messages in the video, there were also updates about school projects, insights into what the school are working on, and a pledge to spend time with the residents again as soon as possible.
"They wanted to let them know that they were missed, they really wanted to send a message of support."