Elderly and independent in Alcoy

THE inland city of Alcoy has more than 3,600 residents who are over 65 and live alone.
Roughly half are more than 80 and city hall contacted them during lockdown’s Phase Zero to find out how they were coping and to detect cases of need.
The outcome of the phone calls was “entirely positive,” city hall said.
Eighty per cent of the elderly assured interviewers that they were well.  Thirteen per cent said their situation was “fair” while 3.20 per cent described it as “bad.”
Only 11 per cent required further contact and 63 per cent of those calls were follow-ups.
The remainder offered information regarding social benefits, help with shopping, doctor’s prescriptions, rubbish collection or psychological attention.