Who should you help during the coronavirus pandemic?

Encyclopedia of Opinion

Question: Who should you help during the coronavirus pandemic?
Position‹3 of 8›: Help the elderly
Argument1 of 2›: The elderly are lonely

The elderly are particularly likely to suffer from loneliness and disconnect during the lockdown.

The argument

Young, healthy people are significantly less likely to require hospitalization if they contract COVID-19. It is therefore more important for older people, for whom the health outcomes are far worse, to stay in their homes. The asymmetry in risk produces an asymmetry in obligation, and it is the second that creates the problem identified here: the people asked to isolate most strictly and for longest are the same people for whom isolation carries the heaviest social cost. Those that live alone will inevitably experience much higher rates of loneliness than their younger cohorts who might risk small levels of social interaction. The comparison is not between the isolated and the sociable but between two groups following different calculations. A younger person can accept a small amount of contact because the consequence of infection is smaller for them, while for an older person the same contact carries a consequence that makes it unreasonable. Nursing homes are also closed to visitors, leaving residents disconnected from friends and family. That closes the remaining route for those not living alone, so neither living arrangement provides an exception. Older people are less in touch with modern virtual communication methods. They are less likely to migrate online for their social interactions. The substitute that made isolation tolerable for other groups is therefore least available to the group required to isolate most, so the losses compound rather than offset one another. They are, therefore, at much higher risk of loneliness and depression. Many organizations are looking for telephone volunteers to call and interact with elderly residents who are unable to leave their homes. The remedy matches the diagnosis: a telephone call reaches people who are not online, asks nothing of the recipient beyond answering, and carries none of the risk that makes visiting impossible, which is why help is best directed there.

Context

Old people are at particular risk and should not leave their homes. For those that live alone, they can become lonely.

Premises

[P1]Older people face far worse health outcomes from COVID-19, so they must stay isolated at home. [P2] Living alone or in visitor-closed nursing homes, and less able to use virtual communication, they are at high risk of loneliness and depression. [P3] They therefore need support, such as volunteers who phone to keep them company. [C] Therefore, because the elderly are lonely and vulnerable, they are who you should help during the pandemic.

Counter-arguments

Loneliness is not a life-threatening condition. Our priority must be with helping people who need medical, financial, and nutritional support at this time, not with making sure the elderly have someone to have a chat with.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] We must help those affected by the coronavirus in a life-threatening way. [Rejecting P2] Loneliness is not a life-threatening condition. [Rejecting P3] Therefore, helping the elderly should not be a priority.