Elderly citizens missing municipal day centers

With the government earlier this week deciding to extend the closure of municipal day centers for the elderly (KAPI) until July 26, managers running those facilities have told Kathimerini that patrons are yearning for their old haunts.

Mary Kanellopoulou oversees four KAPIs in the northern Athens suburb of Kifissia which served more than 400 people daily before they were closed in March as part of the coronavirus lockdown. KAPIs were the first venues to be shut as its patrons belong to high-risk groups.

“They call us and we offer psychological support,” Kanellopoulou said, noting that the lockdown period was worse. “Now at least they can leave the house. But they miss having company, their friends, and us.”

Dimitris Sambalis, who manages a KAPI in Halandri, also north of Athens, said the patrons of that facility are also sad. “Many of them miss us a lot,” he said. “But more than anything they are scared.”