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Seniors are often more vulnerable to diseases than other people. And that鈥檚 especially true when it comes to COVID-19. So when the Renaissance Retirement Center in Austin went into lockdown over the weekend, Maxine Barkan, who is 100 years old, thought it was a good idea.
鈥淚 think they鈥檙e doing an excellent job trying to keep us safe and trying to minimize the person-to-person contact,鈥� she says.
Barkan says the operators of her senior community are doing the right thing under the circumstances. She lives in Renaissance鈥檚 assisted living wing. The facility banned visitors as of Sunday 鈥� two days after Gov. Greg Abbott and President Donald Trump declared state and national emergencies. That means not even Barkan鈥檚 daughter can come to see her.
But things were very different at Renaissance just a couple of weeks ago. On Super Tuesday, Renaissance was a polling location.
鈥淎pparently it鈥檚 been here for a long time. In fact, it鈥檚 our precinct here 鈥� it鈥檚 not only a voting place, it鈥檚 our precinct,鈥� Barkan says.
Renaissance, located in Northwest Austin, has been a polling location , and on March 3, . Brookdale, an assisted living facility also in North Austin, was also a polling place on Super Tuesday. .
Chris Davis is on the board of the Texas Association of Election Administrators, and he says no one really thought twice before about putting polling locations in residential senior centers.
鈥淲hen we planned for them as sites, we really had no idea of, you know, any kind of potential for exposure at the time,鈥� he says.
Davis is the election administrator for Williamson County where there were two polling places at residential senior facilities on Super Tuesday. He says locations are chosen for their convenience to voters. But now, that thinking might have to change 鈥� not just in Williamson County, but across the state.
鈥淲e seriously need to think about where we deploy polling places in those areas where there鈥檚 folks that may be more vulnerable to something like this. And it鈥檚 a valid concern that, quite frankly, I venture to say not a lot of my colleagues ... have鈥� considered,鈥� Davis says.
There are at least seven polling places in senior residential facilities across Texas鈥� five largest counties: Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Bexar and Travis. There鈥檚 several more polling places at senior community and activity centers.
And election officials don鈥檛 have a lot of time to fix this. There鈥檚 a statewide runoff in May for the U.S. Senate, plus various municipal elections. But Davis says he can be pretty nimble relocating polling away from senior homes, at least in Williamson County.
鈥淲e are already developing that list of Election Day polling places for that election . 鈥� It鈥檚 another angle that none of us considered before that we will have to consider going forward,鈥� he says.
So far, no COVID-19 cases in Texas are linked with voting centers in senior homes. But those facilities are vulnerable: tied to a nursing facility in Washington State have died already.
And concerns about voting aren鈥檛 limited to Texas. Four states were supposed to have primary elections Tuesday. But Ohio ended up early Tuesday morning. Officials there had recently changed the location of that were supposed to be in senior homes.
As election officials work in Texas to remap polling locations for the May runoff, and again for this fall, Maxine Barkan adjusts to the new normal 鈥� an ever smaller world. As of last weekend: no mail, no hanging out in the common areas, no housekeeping and definitely no visitors.
鈥淲ell what that looks like is four walls. And fortunately, I have some knitting and an interesting book, and some TV,鈥� she says.
But Barkan鈥檚 been through times of quarantine before 鈥� back when there were no vaccines for measles or whooping cough. And she says just like back then, we鈥檒l get through COVID-19 鈥� somehow.
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