Testing, testing: A portrait of French nursing homes
By Jean-Francois Badias
Paris photographer Jean-Francois Badias spent two days chronicling three nursing homes in France’s Haut-Rhin region as the patients and staff all underwent comprehensive testing to determine who must be isolated and who would be allowed the freedom to leave their rooms. One goal: to give patients who are not infected the opportunity to chat face to face, to play board games, to share meals. Badias had rare and exclusive access to the nursing homes, providing compelling photos, video and key text elements for the story he bylined with Paris reporter Lori Hinnant. https://bit.ly/2Y23kAm
Marie Lithard, right, and her neighbor Yves Chretien gaze from their rooms at a nursing home in Ammerschwir, France, April 16, 2020. The elderly make up a disproportional share of coronavirus victims globally, and that is especially true in nursing homes, which have seen a horrific number of deaths around the world. In France, nursing home deaths account for more than a third of the country’s total coronavirus victims – figures the government now documents meticulously after weeks of pressure – AP Photo / Jean-Francois Badias
Richard Eberhardt walks along a corridor past medical and technical staff at a nursing home in Kaysesberg, France, April 16, 2020. Residents and staff are undergoing comprehensive testing to determine which residents can leave their rooms and interact with others in the facility. – AP Photo / Jean-Francois Badias
Henry Voortmann has a test for COVID-19 by medical staff from a laboratory at a nursing home in Ammerschwir, France, April 16, 2020. AP photographer Jean-Francois Badias spent two days chronicling the virus testing at three of the 10 nursing homes in France’s Haut-Rhin region, where comprehensive testing was ordered by local authorities. – AP Photo / Jean-Francois Badias
Jacqueline Huber wears a face mask as she looks out from a doorway at a care home in Kaysesberg, France, April 16, 2020. – AP Photo / Jean-Francois Badias
A resident rests on her bed at a nursing home in Kaysesberg, France, April 16, 2020. – P Photo / Jean-Francois Badias
Marie Lithard sits in a wheelchair in the doorway of her room at a nursing home in Ammerschwir, France, April 16, 2020. – AP Photo / Jean-Francois Badias
Gilbert Beck plays a board game with an activity leader inside his room at a nursing home in Ammerschwir, France, April 16, 2020. – P Photo / Jean-Francois Badias
A resident at a nursing home rests in her room in Ammerschwir, France, April 16, 2020. – AP Photo / Jean-Francois Badias
