All language subtitles for Old.Alone

Wave.

The hair's all gone.

For the past two months,
we have been told to stay at home...

Good morning
from a self-isolated loner.

..in order to help preserve the life

of some of the most vulnerable
people in our communities...

I don't feel old because I'm not.

Six...

I've still got a lot of life
left in me.

..people singled out for special
protection...

Hello. Hello.

..and sealed off from family
and friends...

The worst aspect of this isolation
is certainly absence from family.

I need them and I want them.

Bye-bye, I love you.

My greatest fear is

the unknown, not knowing how long
it's going to last.

..and the Prime Minister
is signalling no end in sight.

We should continue to ask
those who are clinically vulnerable,

including people over 70
or those with pre-existing
chronic conditions,

to take particular care
to minimise contact

with those outside their households.

My frustration is that politicians

and the press

categorise people.

Everyone over 70 is a problem.

Must keep them indoors.

Using video diaries...

What a palaver.

..and filmed through the safety of
their windows...

Sorry. It's not a dry cough.

..this is the story of how some
of the most vulnerable people
in society

are coping with lockdown.

If the Covid virus doesn't get
me will the cancer get me?

And, as restrictions start to ease
for some of us,

how will they cope

with their continuing isolation?

I didn't think I'd be here
for this long.

I thought I'd be here
for a couple of weeks

and that would be it.

There's no timeline.

There's nothing I can do.

How long do I have to stay
locked indoors

before can I see my grandchildren?

I miss them so much.

I just want to scoop
them up and hug them

and I can't do that.

Since the start of the pandemic
in the UK,

coronavirus has claimed
over 30,000 lives,

though other data
suggests it could be far higher.

Most of these deaths were people
over the age of 70

and with underlying
health conditions.

At the beginning of the lockdown,

the government told these
groups of people

to self-isolate.

"Your condition means you are
at high risk

"of severe illness if you catch
coronavirus.

"Please remain at home
for 12 weeks."

I received the message
from my GP practice,

identifying me
as a vulnerable person.

It's a policy that is affecting
millions of people

up and down the country.

Come the end of three months,

we'll be fed up with it even more

if we're still locked down.

I don't know what we're going to do.

Now I feel I'm on my own,

sitting on my own chair,

and I feel lonely and frightened
by it all.

It's not sensible.

None of it is sensible.

What I really worry
is that older people

will feel that they are
more than ever

a forgotten generation,

and that can be incredibly
disheartening for them,

and it may make them either give up,

or come out the other end

very, very traumatised.

Susie lives alone in West London.

She's receiving treatment
for recurrent cancer.

Her life is normally full
of friends and visitors,

but now they've been told
to stay away.

There are some advantages
in living in isolation.

I seem to be living
in a mini Kew Gardens

with the most amazing blossoms,

so it's a joy to look
through the windows...

..because it only
lasts for a very short time.

I've actually put myself
in isolation

because I'm having chemo treatment

at the Marsden Hospital

for, um, ovarian and breast cancer

and it's actually shot my
immune system to pieces.

So, I think, um, in this day

when you don't know
who carriers are,

and where this
invisible pestilence is,

it's best to withdraw.

Susie's illness means that at least
three of her remaining months

will be spent alone.

The prognosis with my disease
is not really known.

Er, these predictions
are not scientific,

so I really don't know how much
time I've got left.

And it seems like a sort
of terrible, cosmic joke...

What a palaver.

..that part of this precious
remaining life

will be spent in solitary
confinement in my house.

I get my deliveries every two weeks,

so I have to make sure they last.

Apparently...

..the virus remains on
plastic for up to three days.

The prospect of more long
months in isolation

is not a very exciting one.

I heard yesterday that people
were talking about

next October, not this October,

next October as being ready

to let we specials out,

um...

which would be just a stress.

What I'm facing

is the challenge
of knowing I have a disease

with an unknown prognosis

and I have to come to terms
with this on my own,

and that's really hard.

82-year-old Des is a former
development officer

for Kensington and Chelsea Council.

Hi, Des. Hi, Mark, hello.

HE CHUCKLES

What are you bringing?

Thanks for the food, Mark,
it was lovely.

You're welcome, man, very welcome.
Enjoy it. Thanks for that.

See you, Mark.

So, Mark's our neighbour

and he brought round some

oxtail, I believe.

Oxtail, he brought in the oxtail.

He knows I am mad about oxtail.

Oh, there you go.

Before the pandemic,
Des lived alone in his flat,

backing onto a busy street.

As friends and neighbours started
falling ill around him,

his daughter Aisha

moved him into her spare room.

Oxtail.

She was very worried about me.

I think they all were.

But I miss so many things.

I miss my independence,

I miss being able to
run about the flat

that I live in naked.

I have a granddaughter
and I have a daughter.

So I have to have proper
respect, you know.

I miss really the independence.

When I knew that the lockdown
was imminent,

when I talked
to a few other family members,

and we just made the decision

that it would be better

if he came to stay here.

Although he's fiercely independent,

wants to do things his way,

I just knew that he would be
better protected here.

The important thing was, as you
know, making sure he stayed alive.

I've got lots of brothers
and sisters

and only one dad.

I just needed to
preserve...preserve Dad.

Oh, man.

HE CHUCKLES

Got it.

Here's a picture of my late wife

and my daughter.

Oh, boy.

This was my late wife's last...

..bit of artwork.

Always get a...

..sombre feeling when I see this...

..no matter how many years
have gone by.

I'm a diabetic.

I've come out of prostate
cancer as a winner.

So I have underlying issues
and I'm being treated for...

..for...

..other issues like, um,

high blood pressure
and things like that.

So I do consider myself, er,
vulnerable.

TV: It comes after research
suggests people from black, Asian

and minority ethnic backgrounds
are at greater risk

of becoming seriously ill
with Covid-19.

Early reports suggest a worryingly
high mortality rate

for black people.

OK, Grandad, just slice the banana.

Add it to that fruit there, OK?

OK.

It's important to get your
immunity up.

Did you know?

Yeah, it is.

Um...

Black people are dying.

A lot of them are dying, yeah.

And it's not going to be you.

Not going to be me.

I'm going to make sure
that you stay here

and you don't end up as a number
on the TV.

OK? Yeah.

I'll try.

Just slice it, Grandad.

I'm enjoying this walk...

WOMAN LAUGHS

..as you can see.

There's no-one around now.

So no-one's spreading anything
with anyone.

WOMAN GIGGLES

Oh, there's people, quick.

There's people,
oh, there's some people.

No.

Thank goodness for the sunshine.

Lockdown has come at a terrible
time for the Hudsons.

They've just sold their house

and are packed up, ready to move
closer to their grandson, Finlay.

But now their plans are on hold.

Who are you going to marry, Finlay?

Ah, ah, ah, I'm going to marry you.

For self-isolating grandparents

the loss of contact
with their grandchildren

can be heartbreaking.

Why don't you want to marry me?

Why don't you want to marry grandpa?

Grandpa and Nana.

I miss my grandson.

And, you know, I've got so much

naughty things
I've got to teach him still.

And, so...

you know, I've got
to keep going for that.

I told him how to jump in puddles.

Now he won't keep out of them.

We were told really

it's best not
to move for the next 12 weeks

because we're the ages we are,

the vulnerability, and really now

we're just waiting for that window
of opportunity

to actually physically go.

I'm a neck breather.

My nose and my mouth don't connect
to my lungs any more,

so...

..with this bit poking out

it's what I breathe through.

I'm not really worried about
coronavirus, to be honest with you.

I've, um...

Yes, I'm concerned,

but I'm not really worried,
I'm not frantic about it.

I practise, um, safe breathing.

Being a laryngectomy,
being a neck breather,

that really worries me,

not in kind of contracting
the...the virus,

but how he's cared for

in hospital.

Trevor will need a slightly
different treatment

to how anybody else
would have to be treated.

He breathes through the hole
in his neck,

not through his mouth or his nose.

So I've got to make sure

that they know that if he ended up

going into hospital,
or in intensive care.

Me again.

This time no mucking about.

How do I feel?

I feel quite
vulnerable at the moment.

Um...

We're in the middle of a house move.

My wife's been diagnosed
with breast cancer.

Sally's breast cancer was diagnosed
a week before lockdown.

With the NHS throwing everything
at the virus,

two million operations
have been cancelled,

including Sally's.

..Which scares me because...

..you never quite know
what's happening

inside your own body, do you?

And I've got to put up with this...

..and I'm just scared
it's going to spread and...

If the Covid virus doesn't get me
will the cancer get me?

I suppose so.

Who knows?

I did ask her when she thought
it was likely to be

and she said, "Well, it could still
be in the next few weeks,

"but it might be a lot longer."

SHE SIGHS

It's just having to wait.

Anyway...

For people over 70 and those with
underlying health conditions,

the prospect of life returning
to normal seems increasingly remote.

For Susie, the fear is that this
isolation could stretch out

for months and months.

It all really does depend
on your inner resources

and how you actually respond to it -

and people are very friendly,
very nice,

and, you know, they say
they miss me and so on.

I've got plenty to do

because I have two friends recently
who died,

who had loads of possessions
and they didn't label

anything or attribute them
to anybody.

So I'm spending my time
putting stickers on the bottom

of everything I can.

It's quite a long job
because there's a lot to do.

So the executors, when it happens,
can actually send them to somebody

who they think will really...

Well, I hope they will really
enjoy them.

# Ah-ah-ah-ah

# Staying alive
Staying alive

# Ah-ah-ah-ah

# Staying alive... #

And, really,
that's what I want to do.

For older people,
a sedentary life is dangerous.

Health can degenerate quickly.

I'm on the statutory walk,
the day's exercise.

I've got heart and lung problems

which is another good reason

why I do NOT want this virus.

I think I'm a sitting target.

Exercising is the only thing
that I've got

and it helps
my mental state, really,

and it's just like
my mind just goes...

..drifts away.

I'm starting to look to
breakfast television

where the Green Goddess
is starting simple exercises.

Actually, I hate exercising
for exercising's sake.

I move a lot and I'm always going
up and down stairs

and doing this and doing that -

but I've been pretty inactive.

Both of my feet are swollen
this morning

but I haven't been out for a week,
so I'm not surprised.

Not good for my diabetes.

So, this morning,
I'm off out for a walk.

While I've been sitting indoors
like a lemon,

spring has sprung.

I can't think of anywhere
I'd rather be

in the whole world at this moment,

except maybe visiting my mum

and giving her a cuddle.

Former police community
officer Pete Middleton

is an insulin dependent diabetic.

I wonder where we'll be
in a month's time.

Just hope my health and wellbeing

last long enough for me
to make the most of it.

Peter also suffers from a type
of dementia,

a degenerative brain disease
that affects his memory.

I think I'm appreciating
the sheer beauty

of everything that's around me
a little bit more,

now that I'm not out
in it so often.

Gosh, it's good to be alive.

Come on, you lot.

Why aren't you social distancing?

Excuse the mess.

There's my dog, Scruffy...

..and my long-suffering wife,
Pam, who's also my carer.

Hello!

Because of my dementia,

I tend to keep notes everywhere.

Trouble is...

..I can never remember
where I put the darn note!

I found out that the cruise
that Pam and I had planned

for our 45th wedding anniversary
is now cancelled.

So I'm floating around immediately

trying to organise another one
for next year,

because I want something
to look forward to after lockdown.

I want to build up as many memories

and things for my scrapbook
as I can, now.

And so losing this cruise this year
is a bitter blow to me.

Um...and next year, hopefully
I'll be the same as I am now.

But I can't say what
the future holds for me.

I might have degenerated
a lot by next year.

Lockdown is particularly unfair

on anybody who feels
they don't have much time left.

And it's really tough
if you take away

perhaps half of what
somebody assumes

is going to be the rest of
their life.

For us, we're losing a year,
and that's bad.

For them, it's much more.

Close to the Malvern Hills,

Yvonne Milne and her
husband Chris, both 70,

are also self isolating -

but not for their own safety.

We have a profoundly
multiply-disabled daughter

who is extremely vulnerable.

Last year, she almost died

from pneumonia and sepsis.

So her immune system and her lungs
were already compromised

and we're extremely anxious
for her life.

Hi, Claire. Hi, darling.
Are you ready?

Daddy is just getting you
out of the car. Won't be a minute.

This weekend, their 39-year-old
daughter Claire

is visiting from
her residential home.

OK, so this might look a bit strange

and over the top.

Claire's just arrived home

and we promised that we'd take
every possible precaution

to protect ourselves, as well.

So, here we go.

I'm just doing a little bit
of shoulder massage.

This is Claire in
her standing frame.

This is Claire using
her virtual physiotherapist.

Claire has Rett syndrome,

a rare condition that means she's
unable to do anything for herself

and is dependent on
around-the-clock care.

The workload for Yvonne and Chris,
even just for a weekend visit,

is enormous.

I do so wish she could stay
here with us,

but the reality is...
we're absolutely exhausted,

after just...you know, 30-odd
hours of caring for her non-stop,

days and nights.

And, you know,
this is really heavy nursing,

and I know the reality is
we couldn't do it.

So that wouldn't be good
for her either.

Chris is taking Claire back
to her residential home,

and the gravity of the situation
is sinking in.

The fear is that,
should Covid enter the care home,

she would not survive.

It was totally different.

The person who's looking after her
came out, marched up.

I wasn't allowed inside, obviously.

So you just wonder whether,
you know,

she will survive
and whether you'll see her,

um...see her again, literally.

Hey.

Today's Good Friday.

And more bad news overnight.

We're dropping like flies
around here.

I just hope that...

..I can see through this whole...

..this whole pandemic...

..and come out on the other side.

This friend of mine
is going to be buried

and I won't be able to go over
to the funeral.

I feel awful, mentally...

..and personally, and a couple
of my friends have just gone

and I can't even...

..say goodbye to them, really.

Today was particularly difficult.

Des seemed really low today.

I think stuff was getting to him.

The passing of his friends.

Just this quarantine.

Think the walls begin to
close in after a while.

The other concerning thing
is the way Covid-19

is disproportionately killing
black and brown people.

It's definitely shining a light

on the racism and inequalities
that exist in this country.

I mean, disparities in health

and in housing, in education...

..in employment,

they've always existed.

They just don't seem to matter.

But Des matters.

He matters to us.

It's three weeks into lockdown,

and today Sally has to go
to a local hospital

for a checkup on her
recently diagnosed cancer.

That brought some of this
home to me quite a lot

because not only was I going
to the hospital,

which is a bit scary

in the circumstances,

knowing that there's...
the Covid-19 germs are all around.

But it was also going on my own.

When I got out of the car

and had to leave Trevor
in the car,

and walk out on my own,

it kind of suddenly hit me that...

..I really was going through this
on my own.

She's put a real brave face on
as she's walked away.

How do I feel about it?

I'm sure you can realise
how I feel about it.

I've just got to
sit here now and wait

until she comes back.

This was just for the blood test.

What worse am I going to be like

when I have to
go in for the operation

without somebody
being there with me?

# Rock-a-bye baby, in the tree top

# When the wind... #

Up and down the country,
the loss of contact with

their grandchildren is a daily trial
for many grandparents.

Oh, I miss my Flo.

I'm still trying to sing
the lullabies to her every day.

But Florence held the phone,
and she says, "Are you happy, Nanny?

"I miss you," and she said,
"I love you so."

OVER PHONE: I love you.

Bye-bye. I love you, bye-bye,
night-night, sleep tight.

80-year-old Jan is a grandmother
to two young children.

She's isolating in a home
once filled with family.

My husband died a long time ago.

And sometimes, in this, I feel his
loss much more keenly, suddenly.

This solitary state is
a different one,

and I find myself being much -
being more distressed by it.

Screens go a wonderful way towards
lessening this barrier, reducing it.

But they don't last,
they're short-lived.

PLAYS FRENCH HORN

I think some of the small,
still things are lost

by this real, physical absence.

FRENCH HORN CONTINUES

The worst aspect of this isolation
is certainly absence from family.

Son and daughter,
and small grandchildren.

I can't go and see them,
and they can't come and see me -

and I need them, and I want them.

And touch and getting my arms
around them,

and physical closeness are all gone.

And that's a huge loss.

I think that's the biggest one.

Before the virus, Age UK
reported that two thirds of people

over the age of 65 have suffered
depression or anxiety.

Many have started wondering
what the effect of lockdown

might have on this figure.

We know that many older people,
probably more than the rest of the

population, have mental health
problems, including depression,

which are often brought on or
made worse by isolation.

There's much to be said in terms of
maintaining your social connections,

mental stimulation and, indeed,
keeping your mood up and

warding off depression.

For Sally, who is waiting
for treatment for her cancer,

The restrictions on seeing people
are wearing her down.

We're being told by the government
what to do, we're -

there's millions of people on
Facebook telling us what

we should and shouldn't do.

All sorts of things are happening
that are completely, kind of,

out of a normal person's control.

And I wanted to take back
a bit of control.

Wave!

This is tea on the lawn at 4.00.

With the avenue that we live in,
we all came out last Sunday and

sat at the front doors,
having a cup of tea.

Lots of people out.

All right, darling.
SHE LAUGHS

Well done.

That was brilliant, in that
it helped the social interaction.

And I truly believe it helped
all of our mental health.

Whether it was wrong to do that,
I don't know.

The feedback was excellent.

Everybody said how much
they enjoyed it,

how much fun they'd had
speaking to each other.

But now, I'm wondering if...

..I've been - or we have all been -

socially and medically
irresponsible.

Well, that's one of
the things you could....

I don't know. I don't know, Sally.

For Desmond and his daughter, Aisha,

newly-published figures
have confirmed their worst fears.

Black people are twice as likely
to die from coronavirus

as white people.

Here, Des. What's that?

That is sunshine in a bottle.
Vitamin D.

It's really important to maintain...
Vitamin D...supplement? Yeah.

Instead of the sunshine, Des.
Yeah...I'll do that. Yeah.

Today is the funeral of Desmond's
friend and fellow pan player, Ghost.

Unable to be there for his
own safety... Here it comes.

..he's watching the event
via video link.

Look at this, they're bringing out
Ghost to where he goes!

Farewell, Ghost, farewell.

Right on. Light the universe!

My good friend, man.

Look at that.

Good Friday morning, I woke up to
the news that my close friend died.

I haven't been able to grieve.
I haven't been able to mourn.

And then, the following week,
another friend of mine died.

And then, last night, somebody
phoned me to say to a friend of mine

from Brixton - he had died.

But I can't see them,
I can't say goodbye.

I'm 82. And I know fully well
that I'm not here forever.

You know, I don't know how long
I've got left, but I'm trying to

make sure that this particular
virus isn't the one that's

going to take me! D'you understand?

And my friends are popping off

What do I do?

I can't just keep crying.

Pete and his wife, Pam, are finding
it harder to cope with his dementia

with nobody to help or to talk to.

I'm having a bad morning
this morning.

I woke up this morning, couldn't...
HE STAMMERS

..I couldn't speak very well.

So, some days, I have difficulty in,
er, finishing my sentences

and in speaking properly...
and it makes me very sad.

And what makes it worse is knowing
that it worries my wife so much.

Er...but...

Er, be-behind the stuttering, er...

..my mind is intact.

And I know exactly...
what is happening to me.

And I am...

..not able to do anything about it.

And there's no-one I can see.

I just have to...be brave.

In West London, Susie is desperate
not to let lockdown

affect her quality of life,

Because I don't go anywhere
and nobody sees me,

I could become a complete slob
and never wear anything

but my dressing gown.

But I just can't do that.

I have to wear something
different every day.

I always decide the night before,
what I'm going to wear.

I do that because of a sense of
self respect, of identity.

And I've trying to lead - keep life
as normal as possible, basically.

As the National Health Service
struggles with the impact of

the crisis, Susie gets a surprising
and unwanted call.

I got this phone call for my GP
surgery from the nurse.

And she raised the question
of "do not resuscitate"

on my medical files -
whether I would consider doing it.

I was completely taken aback.

The more I thought about it,
the more abandoned I felt,

and the more...not frightened,
exactly, but, you know,

just feeling I'm worthless.

If I have a problem,
they want me to die,

rather than do anything about it.

So, that's what I felt.

Statistically, somebody who is
much older, has underlying

health problems, is more vulnerable,
is much more likely to become

seriously unwell
if they have coronavirus.

There is a good chance,
unfortunately, in some case

that they will end their days -
if they go into hospital -

having intensive treatment that
involves blood tests and stabbing,

and masks, and all the rest of it...

..to no end.

Because it's not going to
change the outcome.

That is a simple fact
of coronavirus.

You know, I realised the rationale
behind it, which was not rationing,

but actually, just giving you the
opportunity to have a, sort of,

clean and simpler death.

I've been thinking back
about my, er...

..my little emotional outburst...

..to Karen the other morning...

..and what caused it.

And I guess...

..partly, my emotions were a result
of knowing that I have a condition.

that is going to get worse
over time.

Now, I sense that progress
at other times, too.

But outside of lockdown,
I've got other things to...

..to occupy my mind.

Most of the time, I'm busy.

So, I can live with that,
I can file it away.

During lockdown,
I don't have that luxury.

New figures have shed light on
the deadly impact of coronavirus

in care homes.

The Office for National Statistics
says that a third of all deaths

linked to the virus in England and
Wales are now in residential

and nursing homes.

Taking morning temperature before
Claire comes home tomorrow.

There we go. 36.0. Thank you.

For Chris and Yvonne,
these are worrying times.

The Office of National Statistics
have reported that more than

12,500 people have died
in care homes.

They are planning another
weekend visit for their

disabled daughter, Claire.

But there's been a change of plan.

So, we had a phone call yesterday
afternoon out of the blue from

the care home where Claire lives,

to say that one of the co-workers
had phoned in that morning

to say that she was showing symptoms
of the virus.

As you can imagine...
it's our worst nightmare.

The carer will now take a test
to see if she's contracted Covid-19.

All Yvonne and Chris can do is wait
to see if the virus is now present

in Claire's care home.

Yvonne and Chris have been
waiting to hear whether

one of their daughter's carers
has tested positive for Covid.

We got the news yesterday evening -

really welcome news that the test
has come back negative.

Huge relief for everybody, but,
of course, still early days.

This has got an awfully
long time to run and...

..it could happen again.

The scare has led Yvonne and Chris

to consider what might happen
if Claire became infected.

Their concern is that if she were
hospitalised,

they would not be allowed
to be with her.

She would be terrified.

And you couldn't explain
to her what was happening.

She'd have no understanding, so...

Um, so my husband and I
have made the decision

that if that was the case, then we
would prefer her to be cared for

and have what may inevitably be end
of life care in the community.

And we're now seeking answers
to our question -

what would be available in the
community for her

if that was the case?

How would we alleviate her
suffering?

How would we...

How would...

How would we...make it
easier for her?

And so that's what we're trying
to find out at the moment.

For the time being,
Claire's doing well,

she continues to come home
every fortnight.

BORIS ON TV: It is now
almost two months

since the people of this country

began to put up with restrictions
on their freedom.

Your freedom.

But in the end, this is a
plan that everyone must make work.

And when I look at what you've done
and the patience and common sense

you've shown, the fortitude
of the elderly whose isolation

we all want to end as
fast as we can.

NARRATOR: The Prime Minister's
roadmap returning to a normal life

contains little reassurance
for the over 70s.

Vulnerable or not, they are told
to carry on as before.

What do you think?
What do you think of that?

What does that mean to you -
stay alert?

I have... Well, I've been and
we've been alert all along.

What does alert mean?

Well, I'm very sad about what I...

..saw and listened to this evening
from the government.

I was hoping for a
message of...of hope.

But... But there wasn't any.

I was hoping for some reassurance.

And I didn't get any.

If people who are older feel
that they have been left behind,

that everybody else has been allowed
to go back into the world

and they are stuck within their
prison, within those four walls,

it's going to have
a disproportionate impact

on their mental health.

This is going to make it worse.

I have been looking forward
at what it's going to feel like

when we recover, when we come out.

Some things will be...
Will be different.

And certainly small grandchildren

are a good example of something
that will change.

A two and a five-year-old
will change a lot

in six months or whatever it is.

And I'm seeing some of the
change in pictures,

but I want to have them with me.
I want to see it happen.

I want to watch them -

the development of these small
children will certainly show.

In Milton Keynes, Sally has
had some good news.

Her breast cancer operation has
been able to take place.

Well, I'm back now, out of surgery.

It's now just about quarter past 12.

Erm...yeah. I feel really woozy.

I think I talked to a lot of
rubbish in recovery. Ha!

But, yeah, they all looked
after me brilliantly.

They've been so kind to me.

They really have and I've been
so frightened and so teary, but...

..that's to be expected, I suppose.

But I'm back and I'm alive -
that's the most important thing.

I get the feeling that any
operations that they've done,

they wanted to get people in and
out as quickly as possible.

It was strange to come out after
a few hours, really,

of having an operation -
that did seem rather scary.

We are very lucky
because we've got...

We've got through so far.
We haven't had to suffer that much.

There's always someone who's
suffering worse than you are.

All we can do, really, is hope that
these people can get through.

For many of us, the sense
that lockdown is beginning to ease

is a huge relief.

HE SIGHS

But there remain many
unanswered questions

about how much longer
lockdown will last

for older and vulnerable people.

Des has been living
with his daughter Aisha

and granddaughter Malika
for two months now.

The easing of lockdown poses
a new dilemma

for their living arrangements.

DES: I didn't think that I'd be
here for this long.

I thought I'd be here for a couple
of weeks and that'd be it,

I'd be back in my flat.

But that's not the case.

And then she'll be going out
to work and coming back home

and how will we avoid,
you know, contact?

How will we maintain social
distancing?

So, me and Dad are venturing out
for a short walk

for the first time in... A month.
Yeah, in a long time.

My main purpose of being under
lockdown with my father

is to preserve his life.

So in terms of time spans and how
long this is and, you know,

how annoying is that it's going
on and on and on

is not getting to me.

It's just another day.

How's it feel?

My nose is squashed.
THEY LAUGH

That big nose of mine.

But the mask makes you feel
safer, right? It does.

We'll take a little walk and
check on the flowers. OK.

It will roll on and on and on as
long as it has to.

And as long as I feel safe
enough to say,

"Des, you can kind of go home now."

Most people are now looking forward
to an easing of restrictions.

But for the vulnerable and
indeed all those over 70,

lockdown has an undefined end.

And until the lockdown is
over for all of us,

the crisis is far from finished.

I think when all this is over,

we've got to look at ourselves
and realise that

we need to be kinder to everybody,

we shouldn't really judge
people the way we do,

and also, you've got to enjoy what
you've while you've got it.

Because, you know,
as this has proved

you don't know what's going to
happen round the corner.

How are you feeling? Hey, Mum.

I'm very well.
Better for seeing you.

You haven't changed.

ON PHONE: The first thing I'm going
to do is go and see my mum

as soon as the lockdown ends
and give her a big cuddle

and make up for all the time I
haven't seen her and I promised her

I would take her out and see a nice
old-fashioned aerodrome near us

and we'll sit and watch the old
biplanes fly about in the sunshine.

I hope that the...

We get back to a new normality

in the sense that we still care
about each other.

There's this huge amount of care
that if that was a virus,

wouldn't that be wonderful and we
were all infected by that.

And that... That trust and honesty
that we've all got with each other -

wouldn't that be wonderful?

SHE CHUCKLES

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