Social distancing impacts Macon’s elder community

With hundreds of cases of coronavirus reported across Georgia, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urges older adults to stay home.

Us here on 41nbc... for the special broadcast of the governor's statewide town hall... tomorrow at 8.

According to the c-d-c ... adults 65 and older should stay home.... becuase that age group ... is one of the most *vulnerable ... when it comes to covid19.

41nbc jatrissa wooten spoke to a local adult center .... to see how it's holding up ... during the pandemic.

"standup: with hundreds of reported cases of the coronavirus in the state of georgia, the centers for disease control and prevention wants older adults to stay home but what kind of impact does social distancing have on our elders" "just seeing their faces and speaking to them everyday that brightens me up as well as it did them too" altry james from alexis adult daycare center in macon says she misses all of her clients.

She says-- they are used to being in close proximity of one another..

But the cdc is advising people over the age of 60 and those with underlying health problems to avoid activities that involve large crowds that includes adult day care centers.

"this is understandable since this some of the clients main outlets for social interaction" the macon center usually sees about 25 clients a day.

According to macon-bibb mayor robert reichert, gatherings with ten people or more are prohibited.

James says because of that---clients are starting to feel the impact of the closure "some of our clients call and say they miss the daycare" the office manager says there are some things older adults can do while still practicing social distancing like walking, reading and stimulating the mind with puzzles.

She says an alternate to physical contact is using the phone "several of them don't have a computer or iphone" the cdc says - older people are twice as likely to have serious illness from the novel coronavirus so staying away is the best and c1 3 b13 safest