The Save Romania Union (USR) - the Liberty, Unity, Solidarity Party (PLUS) Alliance on Wednesday requested that the Government reassess the social distancing for people aged over 65 and proposed that this age group should be given dedicated time slots in stores, public institutions, public utilities and medical institutions.
"The current measures are insufficient and inefficient. They generate queues and crowds of elderly people in places where other age groups are present, thus making vulnerable the former; there is significant stress and additional pressure on them to finalize purchases or procedures, with the risk of disproportionate sanctions. Also, the time slot dedicated to persons aged over 65 is a busy and inadequate one given the warmer weather and the possible high temperatures in this interval. The USR PLUS Alliance proposes complementary measures to limit the interaction of the elderly with the citizens of the other age groups. The Government must re-evaluate the social distancing for this category and, together with the institutions or economic operators involved in this process, must take into account the models and measures adopted in this regard at European level by the member states," a press release sent to AGERPRES by the USR PLUS Alliance reads.
According to the quoted source, the Government should immediately request all economic agents to allocate dedicated time slots, at the beginning of the usual work schedule, when the spaces are sanitized, and the stocks are refilled, in which vulnerable categories can obtain, as a priority, the consumer goods (food, medicines, health products etc), without coming into contact with other categories of customers, which may represent risk factors.
The Alliance also calls for monitoring the urgent distribution of protective and hygienic materials to the care centers of the elderly by the responsible territorial administrative units and supplementing, where necessary, with national resources, as well as verifying through on-site inspections of the private care homes regarding the observance of these norms, ensuring an online training, under emergency procedure, for the staff of the care homes, on the safety and prevention procedures, where this has not been achieved by the management of the centers.
"We also request the drawing up, through public social assistance services, in partnership with the community and with the County Pension Houses and the County Agencies for Payments and Social Inspection, of the registry of vulnerable elderly persons, whose situation, of access to food, medicines and information, to be constantly monitored. With the registry at hand, the efforts of the community, donations and offers of voluntary support will be made easier, and we will be able to have a correct sizing of the necessary national resources," say the representatives of the alliance.