Debbie de los Angeles thought the hardest day of her life was when she took her to a nursing home, but that was when Covid-19 didn't break out here.

When Covid-19 started showing up at the Life Care Center in King County, Washington State, where Twilla Morin, 85-year-old mother of Angeles, was staying, she tried not to worry. The nurses still monitored her mother's body temperature and reassured her that she had no fever, cough, or other symptoms of infection.

But at 4am on 3/3, a nurse informed Mrs. Morin, who was having a fever of 40 degrees Celsius. They gave her Tylenol and told Angeles that her mother was not in an emergency.

"We suspect that she was infected with nCoV. We did not anticipate this situation," the nurse texted Angeles.

Going to a nursing home is a difficult option for seniors and their children. But many families say they have never thought of facing a medical crisis in a place they once believed was safe for their parents.

Since this nursing home in Kirkland has become the focus of the Covid-19 outbreak in the US, the lives of many families stop in fear and wait full of suffering. Restricted to visit, many families now only call continuously to update the situation of elderly parents from nursing home staff. Many families wonder whether to apply for a visit, regardless of health risks and the risk of spreading the disease.

Some people want their parents to be transferred to another hospital or nursing home, but do not know who will be taking care of the elderly and likely infected people with this nCoV.

"It hurts me to think that my mother could die alone. It's a really panic situation and I can't do anything. It's out of my control," said Vanessa Phelps, who a 90-year-old mother lived in a nursing home for four years and suffered from chronic lung disease, said.

Some families call twice a day to inquire about the situation of their parents, who are all over the age of 80 and reassure them of the disturbing news that has been broadcast on television, mostly about the crisis in itself. nursing home. Some people make video calls to their parents, while another woman only watches her face from the window.

"We can only watch our parents from afar and can't do anything. I feel really helpless," said Alex Stewart. Her 95-year-old grandmother lives in the Life Care Center and is weaving a small blanket for Stewart's soon-to-be born child, her first great-grandchild.

No one knows for sure how nCoV has entered the nursing home, raising concerns about the rapid spread of Covid-19 in other elderly care facilities. Eight out of 12 nCoV deaths in the US are people living in the Life Care Center and at least 6 others are currently infected with the virus.

Although the nursing home is tightening its epidemic control and has experience in dealing with infectious diseases, many families are still struggling to find basic information from Life Care leaders and public health officials. They said they spent hours communicating with the county office, the state government, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Many people living in this 190-bed nursing facility have not been tested for nCoV for the past few days, even if they themselves and their roommates have a cough and fever. That makes many families worried that the number of people infected with nCoV here is higher than the number announced by officials.

Infectious disease experts say that the elderly, especially those with underlying health and respiratory conditions, are at higher risk of infection.

"People always ask 'Why don't you come and get them out of there?' But my father saw it as his home. He liked the food, the care there. Moreover, in the nursing home, he had friends, "said Kevin Connolly, whose 81-year-old father-in-law was in the nursing home. about a year, said.

During a press conference on March 4, Dr. Jeff Duchin, a public health official in Seattle and King counties, said medical teams were conducting an nCoV test for each person at Life Care, and apologizing for Restricting communication during this time. A federal medical support team is believed to have arrived at the center yesterday.

Ellie Basham, Life Care executive director, said every member of the nursing home will have a representative to exchange information with relatives.

Families applauded this commitment and praised the medical and nursing staff for their efforts to work despite the spread of Covid-19 and some of the staff there were infected. The test for nCoV at Life Care seems to have begun yesterday, because a woman said her father had been sampled for testing.

On the night of 4/3, Stewart said her grandmother began to feel chills and breathless. "She called the nurse but didn't see them coming," she said.

Yesterday, the situation of her grandmother got better. "We hope my grandmother only gets sick normally, not infected with the virus. But we will not know until she is tested," Stewart said.

With each passing day, families with people who are sick or in poor health are increasingly frustrated.

Bridget Parkhill's 77-year-old mother, living in the Life Care nursing home, has been sick for nearly a week. On March 4, she was taken to the hospital after suffering from a severe cough and chest tightness. "We collapsed when it happened," Parkhill said. The next day, her mother was taken back to the nursing home.

Angeles said her mother, Morin, had never wanted to go to a nursing home. Ms. Morin first came there four years ago when she could not stand and walk on her own. As dementia worsened, Ms. Morin sometimes mistook Angeles, her only child, into her younger sister.

At Life Care, where Morin lived for the past two years, she wandered around the room with other old friends every day, in a wheelchair to the dining room and at her dining table. She likes to drink a cup of hot chocolate at night and take care of the doll as if it were a real child. At her sharpest times, she always felt proud of her grandchildren.

Angeles wanted to rush to the nursing home when she heard that her mother's health had deteriorated, but she knew that it could increase the risk of nCoV infection for her husband, who had lung disease.

She regularly updates the love from the nurse who cares for her mother and feels relieved to know that it is her most beloved nurse. She was also informed that her mother slept a lot.

But at dawn on March 4, Angeles woke up when she received a new message from Life Care announcing her mother passed away at 2:10 am. The nurse announced that her mother's body would be handed over to the coroner, because it was a "special situation".

That morning, Angeles and her husband, Bob, and their four sons sat in the living room of their home in Monroe, Washington, reviewing old photos and recalling memories of Mrs. Morin.

They arranged cremation for the mother and considered whether it was safe to take back her ring, teddy bear and other items. They are waiting for her nCoV test results. A month had passed since their last visit to the nursing home, so they were not worried about being infected. But she needed answers to her questions.

"I still wonder what happened at that nursing home. They wear protective clothing and masks, but the virus still finds its way into this place," Angeles said.