‘Kanniedood’ centenarians riding the silver wave of the Covid-19 storm

People in Europe live to a ripe old age because of good health and social care systems. According to a figure from AgeUK, there are 14,430 centenarians in the UK, a number that has been growing every year. But, the coronavirus has been devastating for the elderly populations of Europe and the UK who are particularly vulnerable to succumb to the virus because of compromised immune systems. According to the World Health Organisation, 95% of coronavirus deaths were people over the age of 60 years. But it is also this group of the population that have proven to be resilient and provided some of the good news stories of Covid-19. A World War veteran, Captain Tom Moore's 100th birthday walk in his back garden with his zimmer frame managed to raise £18 million for the British National Health Service, while the 106-year-old Connie Titchen from the north of the UK contracted the coronavirus and managed to survive. On the other side of the world a US senior tells about how difficult dating is during the outbreak and how she and her 81-year-old boyfriend get take-aways, separately, and eat in separate cars with the windows rolled down. Another grandmother in her 80s is self-isolating with her younger 70-year-old boyfriend that she met at a church. It is a devastating epidemic that has proven not only to decimate elderly populations, but picks on the young too. But we can take comfort in the 'kanniedood' elderly that are proving to be so resilient in riding the silver waves of the Covid-19 storm. – Linda van Tilburg .By Thulasizwe Sithole.She survived two world wars and now, at 106 years old, yet another deadly, but silent world war – the coronavirus..___STEADY_PAYWALL___.Connie Titchen, a great grandmother from Birmingham who was admitted to City Hospital in mid-March with suspected pneumonia, was diagnosed with coronavirus, and after a three-week battle with the virus she left the hospital on a clean bill of health this week..Feeling "lucky" to have fought off the virus, Connie told hospital staff that she can't wait to see her family..According to her granddaughter Alex Jones, Connie is very independent and lives an extremely active life – she dances, cycles, play golf and has always cooked for herself..But she's not the only centenarian or the oldest person to survive Covid-19. Connie's remarkable recovery from the infection that claimed the lives of more than 137,500 worldwide as of today, follows the recovery earlier this month of the 104-year-old Bill Lapschies, who recovered from Covid-19 while in isolation at his home at the Edward C Allworth Veterans' Home in Lebanon, Oregon..In the Netherlands, Cornelia Ras fell ill on March 17, the day after her 107th birthday, after attending a church service with other residents of her nursing home on Goeree-Overflakkee, an island in the southwest of the country..The Dutch newspaper AD reported that she and 40 others who attended a church service were soon after diagnosed as carrying the virus. Twelve of that group have since died, but Ras' doctors told her last week that she had beaten the infection..The Straits Times reports that Lapschies' home has reported 16 Covid-19 cases till date, out of which eight patients have recovered, one has no symptoms, two are in critical condition and two have died. The other three patients are stable..Dr. David Price, and ICU doctor at the Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City, says in a viral video to empower his family and friends to safeguard themselves against the virus, that the biggest mistake people make is to buy into the "very evil narrative" earlier on in the Covid-19 pandemic that the disease is for old people and people who have hypertension or diabetes..He says unless you're between zero and 14 years old, the virus hits people across the spectrum..Lapschies's doctor says it could have easily gone another way if he had been taken to hospital. "There's not a lot of interventions that can be done," Dr. Rob Richardson told the ST..Dr. Price has only three rules of engagement: 1. Become a hand Nazi; 2. Shrink your social circle, but don't be afraid of your neighbours and 3. Steps you should take if you do become sick. Watch the video here.

‘Kanniedood’ centenarians riding the silver wave of the Covid-19 storm

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