Quarantine as a sentence: old people no longer have food or money without the bank cards

Thousands of pensioners found themselves without a livelihood. By the way, did you notice that no old people are visible on the streets? What really happens to them? The investigation of "NI".

Irina Mishina

We've to recall: Moscow pensioners were urged to isolate themselves due to the spread of coronavirus on March 26th. Those who stay at home for two weeks will be paid 4 thousand rubles. The day before it became known that such a regime would last until May 1.

81-year-old pensioner Galina Afanasevna contacted the editorial office of NI. She almost ran out of money and groceries, and the Sberbank branch near the house was closed due to quarantine and the announcement of non-working days. By some miracle, Galina Afanasyevna managed to find out that the nearest working branch of Sberbank is on Leningradsky Prospekt. A pensioner lives on the Yaroslavl highway. She moves with difficulty on her own, and free travel for the elderly was canceled to ensure isolation. She also does not manage to get a code for the trip, because the woman does not have a smartphone, there is only an old push-button telephone. Galina Afanasyevna also does not know how to use the Internet, she does not have a computer at home. Neither in Sberbank, nor on the "hot line" of the Moscow government could not help her. True, they gave advice: draw up a notarized power of attorney for the volunteer. But it costs several thousand rubles, which Galina Afanasyevna simply does not have. And notaries in our homes do not go to pensioners.

There are hundreds of such posts in regional forums. Requests for help from the old people abandoned by the authorities - fathers and grandfathers of those who adopt current laws, decrees and decrees ...

“A huge number of pensioners cannot withdraw their money due to the closure of Sberbank branches. If an elderly person is lonely, he is doomed to starvation and death, ”they write in the group“ National Committee for the Protection of Consumer Rights ”on Facebook .

They are sitting in four walls because they were told that they should not go out. The president and the mayor have banned. You can walk to the nearest store, but there prices are rising every day. Three times I went for groceries - and the money ran out. The nearest branch of Sberbank is closed for quarantine. And they have passbooks. Small, bluish-gray books on which, even under the USSR, they received money at the so-called "Sberkassy" (savings-bank) as Sberbank branches were called before. Pension goes to these passbooks. But they can’t pay in the store, like a plastic card. Most old people simply do not have these cards, and they receive their old-fashioned pension in the Savings Bank window for this very passbook. But now, many who are within walking distance of the Sberbank branch are closed due to quarantine.

Doctors periodically raise the topic of the importance of walking for the elderly. It is said that without movement in the fresh air, cardiovascular diseases can worsen, chronic diseases without oxygen exacerbate. For a month without walking, the elderly can weaken so much that they will no longer be able to walk after the epidemic. For many, oxygen starvation has already provoked serious illnesses.

... Our family has been buying food for two old people for a week - neighbors on the porch. Grandfather had a recent heart attack, they had a stent placed on him, but he held on, his wife took care of him. After 3 weeks of home quarantine, his wife began unbearable headaches, she began to fall, lose her balance. Let's go do research - a neoplasm in the brain. To treat him, you need trips, money and hospitalization in a specialized clinic. A planned hospitalization is now prohibited. The condition of an elderly woman worsens every day. Her husband's heart ache again from the experiences, but he will not be put in the hospital. They say we must take the prescribed medications and wait ...

What to expect? Of death?!

Of course, many have children and grandchildren. But now in the conditions of the pass system only two trips per week are allowed, no more. It is clear that in such conditions, not everyone will be able to get to their old parents, who do not live close. Perhaps some children and grandchildren will provide food for future use. But what about lonely old people? Those who do not have compassionate neighbors nearby ... There is no one at all ...

“My grandfather doesn’t live on the street where he was registered in Moscow, and even if there was a place to enter his actual address, he won’t be able to, because he uses a push-button telephone, even he can’t write sms,” writes Anna on Facebook Dvorzhetskaya. - "What's pension, even sitting at home, you can also help him and ordered them to Grandma products"? - they say on the mayor’s hotline. Yes, we can. And we order. But my mother is also a pensioner and she pays for a nurse who doesn’t cost a lot of money. Without a nurse, a weak grandfather will not be able to turn upside down. And here they are Pension is a good help to provide for them. This established scheme somehow worked from year to year. But there was no similar scale of the story with the epidemic either. Now my grandfather was stopped by policemen who are like jackals on duty at Sberbank and catch the elderly. They said he broke the law he has no right you he’s not even registered here. "And how do I get a pension in this case?" asked the grandfather. "NO!", the police answered him and wrote out a Notification. They also said that out of the 4 x thousand rubles of help (which the generous state decided to extradite to pensioners for self-isolation), now he will receive only 2 thousand, so as not to be disgraced! My grandfather lived a good life. Yes, he does not have a card. Yes, he does not know that he won’t already know such an Internet, but from this did he really deserve such an attitude from the state? If you introduce restrictions, think about those who the hell raised you! And now I know one thing: if you are an old man, without a smartphone, Internet access, a bank card and a solid voice to stand up for yourself (although this is unlikely to help), then you have nothing to do here. Sit at home, from the coronavirus you will not die, so as not to spoil the statistics, but from hunger - die, please. "

We contacted the press service of the Moscow branch of Sberbank. There they told us: “ATMs and payment terminals are available in Moscow in 24-hour service areas. We now recommend that customers use the mobile application and remote services of the bank. ”

Now imagine that you are not a media correspondent, but an ordinary pensioner, not wise in knowing the Internet services. Someone recommends you call the Sberbank hotline. You dial a number and hear a gentle female voice there: “Hello! I am your voice assistant. What is your problem? ” After this, you ask for, for example, the addresses of the operating branches of Sberbank in your district. After a pause, an affectionate voice will answer you: “From March 30 to April 30, Sberbank branches will work in the weekend mode. You can find information about operating Sberbank branches in the Sberbank online application or on the Sberbank website. "

Going to the website of Sberbank, you will find a lot of information. For example, how to take an online tour of the Tretyakov Gallery with Sergey Shnurov or sign up for distance learning on the educational concierge service. If you dig a lot, you can still find a list of working Sberbank branches. Although they are written in such a small print that even a person with good eyesight can not distinguish these addresses from the first attempt. In addition, you will immediately find that they are located at metro stations. Moreover, not always close to the city center. That is, if you want to withdraw money from the Savings Book, you will have to wait for the code to be received. You can get it exclusively on your smartphone or e-mail. Apparently, the authorities believe that every old man with a beggarly pension has a smartphone and he is a confident computer user. But it’s not a fact that even when you receive the code, the old man will not be caught and fined on the street by employees of the Russian Guard, police or the Ministry of Emergencies “for violating the self-isolation regime for people 65+”.

Today, from all TV screens they talk about caring for the elderly. But in fact they were simply left overboard, put out of brackets. For many of them, the current decisions of the authorities are tantamount to death. Unless an urgent solution is found, it may be too late. Thousands of old people will not die from the coronavirus. They can die of starvation and indifference of the state.