Hotline provides vital assistance to the elderly during lockdown

The elderly care service hotlines in all 16 districts in Shanghai have received more than 5,500 calls since operations started on April 27, an official with the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau said on Wednesday.

The needs that were communicated by elderly residents in nearly 5,000 of these calls have been resolved, while the rest are still being processed, Chen Yuebin, an inspector with the bureau said at a municipal press briefing.

Chen said the difficulties that the elderly reported via the hotlines mainly fell into three categories: inadequate living necessities such as food and diapers, going to hospitals and getting drugs, and other problems, including repairs and hailing taxis.

The hotline workers forwarded these needs to the relevant departments in the local subdistricts and assisted with matters such as group purchasing and dispatching volunteers to help the elderly get medicine, Chen said.

Golte Urban Service Industry Group had also provided assistance to elderly residents during the lockdown. The group had on April 20 initiated a charity program to help elderly people living alone to join group purchases or buy groceries online.

When distributing group purchases, the group also provided some goods to elderly people living alone for free.

"There is a strong culture of respecting seniors and caring for the young in China. We hope to preserve these values through our actions," said Chen Yuyu, executive president of Golte.

Golte started providing necessities to residents through group purchases in late March.