Woman Offers Help To Elderly Couple Who Were "Scared To Go Into" Grocery Store Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

Mar 19, 2020 by apost team

With the outbreak of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, one Oregon woman is serving as a shining example and a reminder for everyone to show compassion and kindness to one another, especially the elderly population who are among our most vulnerable.

On Wednesday, professional runner Rebecca Mehra shared via Twitter an experience she had during a trip to her local grocery store. When she arrived, she noticed an elderly couple in the parking lot sitting in their car. As Rebecca was headed into the store, she heard a woman's voice calling to her. It was the elderly lady who was sitting in the car with her husband.

As Rebecca approached the car, the lady rolled down the window a little more. Rebecca saw that she was about to cry. The lady told Rebecca that she and her husband were afraid to go into the store. She explained that they were both in their 80s. They had heard all about the coronavirus and how it is especially dangerous to older people, even deadly. She said that they had no family nearby whom they could turn to for help.

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The elderly lady held up a grocery list in a $100 bill. She asked if Rebecca might be willing to go inside and purchase their groceries for them. Rebecca didn't hesitate. She went right into the store, bought the groceries, brought them out, loaded them into the trunk of the couple’s car, and handed the elderly woman the receipt and the change.

The couple was so grateful. It turned out that they had been sitting in the parking lot for 45 minutes, waiting to ask “the right person” to help them. Rebecca was moved, and she was so happy to be able to help. In her Twitter posts, she reminded people that during this time of fear and near hysteria it is very important to help anyone you possibly can. There are people who don't have anyone they can ask for help.

Rebecca’s story quickly went viral, with good reason. Many Twitter users commended her and thanked her for her good deed, and for sharing some excellent advice. When interviewed by CBS News, Rebecca revealed that her experience with the vulnerable elderly couple was a wake-up call for her and that she now realizes just how much the current situation has affected her community.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention advises that there is presently no vaccine for the coronavirus, formally known as COVID-19, and that those most at risk from it are older adults with chronic health issues like cancer, diabetes, heart and lung disease, etc. As of Friday, approximately 1,663 cases of coronavirus had been confirmed in the United States, and at least 41 deaths have been attributed to it. Most of the fatalities have occurred in Washington state. The virus is spreading rapidly, with at least 400 new cases being confirmed within the past 24 hours. Globally, there have been approximately 138,069 confirmed coronavirus cases, and among that number approximately 5,103 resulting fatalities.

The virus known as COVID-19, a mutation of the coronavirus, originated in December 2019 in the Wuhan province of China. The respiratory illness spread very quickly throughout the entire world. The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a public health epidemic. The last time such an incident occurred was during the zika epidemic of 2016.

Since Wuhan is a primary hub of the world's transportation, and because of the fact that Wuhan has a population of 11,000,000, keeping the virus contained in this city was impossible. As people came and went, the coronavirus was spread throughout the world - including the United States. The very first coronavirus case was confirmed near Seattle, Washington, in a town called Everett. The infected man had recently traveled to Wuhan. From this situation, the number of cases grew exponentially.

Things became even more serious on February 26, 2020, when the first case of community-spread COVID-19 was diagnosed in California. “Community-spread” means that the virus had been identified in someone who had not recently traveled anywhere, nor had they come into contact with an individual who was infected with the virus. The first death attributed to the coronavirus occurred on February 29, 2020. The deceased was a woman with pre-existing health issues in her 50s. Just one day later, the second virus-related death came. This time, the victim was a man in a long-term nursing facility. He also had pre-existing health issues and was in his 70s. The nursing facility was located near Seattle. Since then, there have been 29 more deaths in Washington state. The majority of them have occurred at the same nursing facility.

In an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19, many people are self-isolating voluntarily, while others in various locations all over the world are being placed under forced quarantine by health and/or political officials. The deadly coronavirus is causing serious worldwide panic.

The current situation means that it is more important than ever that we look out for one another and help the vulnerable members of society, just as Rebecca Mehra did. Let your friends and family know about this article and encourage them to read it. At a time like this, encouragement and uplifting stories need to be read and taken to heart by everyone.