RENO, Nev. (AP) - It’s 10:30 a.m. and there’s a knock on Joe DiMaggio’s door.
He puts down the phone, shuffles to the door. No one is there, but a cup of strawberry ice cream waits for him. He wishes he could have caught a glimpse of the person who left it.
It’s been a month since DiMaggio has seen another human face-to-face at the Brookdale Sparks independent living facility.
“I am alone,” he told the Reno Gazette Journal .
DiMaggio, who jokes he’s the “other Joe DiMaggio,” not the famous baseball player, is 97 and has survived most everyone close to him.
His wife, his son and all his siblings have died, so he doesn’t receive a lot of phone calls. The ones he does get, he can barely hear. You have to shout, he says.
“I cry a lot of times because I come from a family of 10 and I’m the only one left,” he said.
DiMaggio is among residents at the home who avoided a brush with the novel coronavirus, which infected about 30 residents and 10 staff at the senior home, according to bulletins shared with staff and residents.
A representative for the home declined to confirm the number of cases and deaths.
The company is not legally required to report coronavirus cases because it is not licensed to provide health care, according to state officials. The home provides food and basic services like cleaning and activities.
Brookdale was hardly the only senior home to report an outbreak. Across Washoe County, 242 cases have been confirmed in assisted living homes, resulting in 29 confirmed resident deaths, according to state data.
Because Brookdale is for seniors who desire a balance between independence and care, residents say their days aren’t just about the virus, but also about spending their lives in a room, alone.
“Your whole life is being wasted, just wasted,” said Jeanette Silva, another Brookdale resident. “You’re locked down and controlled and your whole life is up to someone else.”
About a quarter of U.S. deaths from COVID-19 - nearly 74,000 of the 280,000 - have been nursing home residents and caregivers, according to a USA TODAY Network report .
COVID-19 cases at nursing homes nationwide are at record levels, reaching 18,238 cases for the week ending Nov. 15, the most recent national data available. And about one in five nursing home residents with COVID-19 die from the illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Nevada has recorded about 1,270 cases altogether in nursing homes, though the numbers would likely be greater were they to include senior homes like Brookdale.
“We are diligently monitoring our residents and associates for signs and symptoms, and we continue to work directly with local health officials to help ensure our residents and associates have the appropriate and necessary medical support,” said Heather Hunter, a spokeswoman for Tennessee-based Brookdale Senior Living. The company owns more than 740 senior living communities in 43 U.S. states.
“We will continue to follow the guidance of the local health department throughout this situation,” Hunter said.
While reports about COVID-19 vaccinations has bolstered spirits in nursing homes and other senior living spaces, residents are eager for relief now.
Silva said life in her double-room apartment wasn’t bad until the pandemic. She played cards and bingo, crocheted, and went weekend shopping at Walmart with her family.
Monthly, one of her grandkids would take her to get her hair done and without fail tell her how lovely she looked afterward. She no longer gets to take those trips.
In early November, the home saw the start of an outbreak. Residents were isolated entirely. No more shared meals. No more shared games. No going outside, unless you wanted to quarantine for 14 days.
The outbreak escalated quickly, Silva said. By the second week, her husband had COVID-19 and was hospitalized.
Silva felt fine, but fatigue set in soon after her husband left.
“All of a sudden I had a fever, and I couldn’t even crochet, I was making all kinds of mistakes, missing stitches,” she said.
Residents and staff fell ill, not only endangering their health but also the structure and routine of residents.
“The director, she was doing everything she could, even taking shifts delivering food to the rooms, taking orders, picking up trash from our rooms, doing just about everything,” said Silva. “If it wasn’t for her, this place would have fallen apart.”
But meal options suffered: Macaroni and cheese, or a half grilled cheese sandwich some days.
Silva said she was glad for the frozen mangos, canned Spam and pancake mix she had in her personal cache.
DiMaggio agreed the meals left much to be desired.
“There were real good times, and now it’s the worst,” said DiMaggio. “I wonder who’s in the kitchen. You gotta eat though or you’re going to get sick.”
Heather McCreary, a former health care worker who lives across the street from Brookdale and is friends with residents, worries about them. McCreary’s daughter, now grown, recently worked at the facility. McCreary offered a stack of puzzles and adult coloring books, but they were turned away as a precaution.
“These people are part of our lives,” McCreary said. “Every one of them has a life story, and not everyone gets to hear it, but we do.”
“They’re humans and they have freedoms,” she said. “Their minds are straight; they just have really old bodies. Somebody needs to fight for them.”
Silva said restrictions are starting to loosen slightly as there’s been no further news of COVID-19 cases in recent weeks.
“The director, she’s worried about re-opening too quickly,” said Silva. “It’s a lot of responsibility.”
DiMaggio is venturing out more on his porch, which is decked in a small American flag, lights and a string of golden bobbles. He said he’s feeling a bit more optimistic.
Residents now sometimes sit on chairs outside their rooms to talk to each other while wearing masks, even if it’s hard to hear one another.
Silva’s husband is still recovering at a rehabilitation home. She’s starting to spend time on the sunny patio. She’s crocheted a snowman, poinsettia, an entire baby cradle and outfit for a doll.
Recently, residents have been permitted walk their hallways. Rumor has it that some leave the facility like rebellious school children.
Earlier this month, after testing negative twice for COVID-19, Silva left her room for the first time in a month. She said she was wobbly.
“When I walk, I walk like an old lady,” she said. “I never walked like an old lady before.”
Silva continues to struggle after her best friend, playing card chum and confidante, who lived in the home, died of COVID-19. She noticed that residents didn’t get a chance to sign the traditional memorial card.
DiMaggio wants to visit friends at the facility and his neighbor’s tomato garden and stretch his legs.
He reminisces about his days as a railway man in downtown Reno, shipping everything from live elephants to fresh Bay Area fish to silver dollars to California flowers destined for New York City.
He was a fisherman and a fine bowler, with a plaque in the Hall of Fame in Reno’s National Bowling Stadium.
He understands, he said. It’s a pandemic.
Counting down to Christmas day, he said he has 47 nieces and nephews across the country. Maybe he’ll talk to some of them by phone.
It won’t be his favorite Christmas in nearly a century, but it’s OK, he said. No one’s fault.
“How would you have it if you’ve never encountered this before? (The staff) are trying to do the best they can,” DiMaggio said.
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