Providing care for a senior comes with a lot of responsibility. In some cases, caregivers can be the ones preparing meals, doing errands, providing companionship and overall making sure all of a person’s needs are met. 

This was already a demanding job. But now, with the addition of COVID-19, it’s gotten more complicated.

William Palmer III takes care of his 92-year-old grandmother, along with the help of around 70 other family members in the area. Once a week, a handful of family members join a  phone meeting to decide who is available to help out and make sure that one person doesn’t have to do everything. 

Even with all of this help, Palmer said that being a caregiver still comes with a greater degree of responsibility. With the threat of COVID-19, he and his relatives have to be extra careful not to spread it to their loved one. 

“I went fishing with a friend, and a few days later, he tested positive for COVID. So, for two weeks, I locked myself in my house, and I couldn’t help the family,” Palmer said. 

“When you’re worried that you might bring a disease that might kill your grandmother into the house, all of the sudden…you don’t want to [be a caregiver] anymore, because you don’t want them to die.”

Read the entire article at This Is Reno.

This portion of the article is shared as part of our collaboration with This Is Reno. This story was originally published on October 6. It was written by Bianca Wright, an alum of Noticiero Móvil.