Happy day for elderly as center prepares lunch
Elders at Kangle day-care center learn how to fold paper.
Day-care centers for the elderly are gradually reopening in Songjiang as the COVID-19 outbreak since last winter substantially weakens in the country.
The Kangle day-care center in the Yueyang Community was among the first batch in the city to reopen and its meal service restarted on April 1.
Ni, who lives the furthest away in the Changqiao Neighborhood, used to come to the center for lunch every day. On the day the center reopened, he asked his son to take him here earlier in the morning.
“I have been taking meals at the center for more than eight years. Its sudden halt of business since the Chinese New Year holiday uneased me and I had been waiting for its reopening. I visited it early today to reunite with my friends and to talk about things that happened during the COVID-19 outbreak,” Ni said.
Wang is another registered member of the day-care center. The sudden pandemic outbreak had confined her to her house and changed her way of living.
“I stayed indoors and my legs didn’t get enough exercise. A bigger problem lay in my meals. Sometimes my children sent me meals, or I made dumplings or cooked porridge myself. The foods were much less nutritious and plentiful than those provided at the day-care center. So I am feeling quite happy today to take meals at the center,” she said.
While a number of people were chatting away to each other on reopening day, the center’s chefs were busy preparing the day’s meals. They will be eaten at the center, picked up by the elderly themselves to eat at home or delivered to their homes.
