Imagine setting your alarm for 2 AM just to buy groceries or take a walk. That’s the reality for over 65s in Serbia, where seniors can only leave home between 3 AM and 8 AM every Saturday. The rest of the week? Strictly indoors. 🕒
Serbia’s government calls it a 'necessary sacrifice' to protect elders from COVID-19, citing the country’s fragile healthcare system. But for a generation that survived WWII, Yugoslavia’s collapse, and NATO bombings, this isolation hits differently. 💔 'We’ve seen war, but never loneliness like this,' one Belgrade grandmother told volunteers.
While NGOs deliver essentials like medicine and food, emotional gaps remain. Families avoid visits to minimize infection risks, leaving many seniors stranded in cramped apartments without balconies. Urban high-rises buzz with quiet desperation as weekly 5-hour 'freedom windows' become lifelines for social connection. 🏙️
Could this spark a global conversation about elder care in pandemics? For now, Serbia’s midnight queues under streetlights tell a story of resilience—and the price of protection.
