Coronavirus: Fear and loathing in Century Village as virus clips seniors’ wings

Palm Beach Post (FL)

DELRAY BEACH These are hard times for the 65-and-older set as a novel strain of the coronavirus aims not only to undermine their health but grind their go-go lifestyle to a halt.

That means for some no movie theaters. No indoor restaurants. No classes at the community center.

Card games? Forget about it. That weekend luau at the clubhouse? No thanks. The Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. concert at Kings Point? Canceled.

Yes, it appears you don't have to be a star, baby, when it comes to COVID-19.

It's fear-and-loathing for retirees in communities throughout Palm Beach County thanks to a killer virus taking the world by storm. It appears ready to tank the world's economy and has turned life upside down for all ages.

Many seniors at retirement communities said they were planning on heading back home to New York or New Jersey for Easter or Passover next month, but those plans seem more tenuous than ever.

And some fretted whether they had the money to stay in Florida for an extended period of time. Never mind the fact that it's impossible to find a parking spot at Costco.

These Snowbirds may be grounded for the foreseeable future.

"What I'm hearing is some of my friends don't want to play mahjong or canasta or any kind of cards," said Gloria Schinik, a resident of the retirement compound at High Point of Delray West Condominiums. "They don't want to be in the group."

She said one resident just came back from Israel because international travelers are high risk.

"They told her the truth, 'You just got back and we are afraid," Schinik said.

Robert Fordham, 78, a resident of Delray Beach, said he will go to the grocery store during non-peak hours but other activities are no longer on the agenda.

"I won't go to a movie. I'm not going to sit in a movie house with 100, 150 people. I'm just not going to do that," he said.

Outside of Kings Point, a mammoth retirement community, lies an adjacent strip mall crawling with retirees.

"This is worse than a hurricane. Very frightening," said Julie Richman, who said she was in her 80s.

Some residents at Kings Point and its rival senior mecca Century Village said concerns about the coronavirus strain were overblown and that everything was under control. Others complained that their anxiety was through the roof.

Many said plans, big and small, have been usurped by COVID-19 as airplanes and cruise ships are now considered prime real estate for the virus.

"A lot of my friends had reservations on airplanes and they are canceling," said Roz Rosenblum, 84. "People are disappointed. They were planning on going on cruise ships."

Kings Point canceled all shows at its Atrium auditorium through March 31. For the time being the county's golf courses were open even if spring training baseball closed up shop. Then there is Florida's presidential primary scheduled for Tuesday.

Artie Simon, 79, a Kings Point resident, wasn't worried about COVID-19. He just got word he didn't need a heart stent and was over the moon.

"People are going to the pools. The pools have been busy," he said. "It's wonderful. It's paradise."

For some, the anxiety of getting the virus was dwarfed by empty shelves at grocery stores and the free-fall of the stock market.

"The anxiety level is more caused by the financial crisis that we're experiencing because of the coronavirus than the virus itself," said Ana Polakovich, 72, of Century Village.

Many seniors wanted to talk about President Donald Trump's performance during the crisis. Not surprisingly, they either characterized him as a historic buffoon or as unfairly vilified.

The deluge -- and sometimes contradictory -- information over the past week on the invisible killer left Fordham with more questions than answers.

"I don't think people understand how you get it," he said. "Just because you meet somebody and talk to them, it's passed to you. They're not saying how you get it. They are just saying, 'Stay out of crowds.'"

Seniors with underlying medical issues are especially at risk but what exactly constitutes an underlying medical issue, Fordham wondered.

But he was hopeful. "My wife and I really don't suffer from anything other than being married for 56 years," he said.

Janet Ross, 70, of Century Village in West Palm Beach recalled how her father would talk often about how his sister died in 1918 of the Spanish flu.

"He told my brothers and I all these stories about quarantines and it just seemed so bizarre to me," she said.

"At this age, I just want to enjoy myself, live my life and hope I don't get sick from this. And if I do, I do. I just don't want to stay in my house for six months. Life's too short."

Back at High Point, Elaine Apicerno echoed that sentiment as she walked back from the pool. "I'm afraid but it's not going to stop me," she said. "You can't just stay in the house."

She noted that High Point, as of Thursday, hadn't canceled a planned luau.

But over at the High Point pool, with its cookie-cutter mellow yellow bungalows straight out of a 1970s postcard, residents said they were going to skip a weekend luau even it's not canceled.

Helene Bond, who would only admit to being over 65, said she was hoping to head back north for Passover but her daughter told her to stay put.

"She felt we were safer being in Florida because you can go outside, you can go to the beach."

Nearby in the shade, Sheila Krugman, 70, said the virus has put a damper on plans in the last weeks of the season before she heads back to Brooklyn. A planned water taxi jaunt in Fort Lauderdale is up in the air.

"It's very upsetting and it's scary," she said. "We love to go out and when you are told to stop and told everything is canceled it's very frustrating."

When back in New York, Krugman said she takes the subway to museums, to Broadway plays, to the stores. That's when a friend suggested that if she must self-isolate she should do it in a woman's department store.

But despite the gallows humor, Krugman said honestly, "I'm terrified of planes in this situation."

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