Pandemic leaves older people poorer, sicker and lonelier: study

The COVID-19 pandemic leaves older people poorer, sicker and more isolated, according to a study conducted by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and published on Wednesday, reported Xinhua.

Focusing on Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, the research involving 2,200 elderly persons, health care workers and volunteer aged-care workers found that the pandemic has had dramatic impacts on the health and the social and financial situation of older people.

"The consequences of COVID-19 are being borne disproportionately by poor and older people who have become poorer, sicker and more isolated," the study said.

The study found that older people's ability to cover basic expenses has dropped significantly; their mental and physical health has deteriorated; their access to health care services has become significantly more difficult; their social contacts have decreased; and many of them have become subject to various forms of physical and financial abuses.

People aged over 65 represent a growing proportion of society in these countries. In Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, they made up, respectively, 15 percent, 11 percent and six percent of the total population in 2019, according to the World DataBank.