Freedom! In France, a nursing home takes on COVID and wins

 As coronavirus scyd through nursing homes, cutting a deadly path, Valerie Martin vowed to herself that story would be different in home she runs in France.

action she took to stop virus from infecting and killing vulnerable older adults in her care was both drastic and effective: Martin and her staff locked mselves in with 106 residents.

For 47 days and nights, staff and residents of Vilava nursing home on outskirts of east-central city of Lyon waited out coronavirus storm toger, while COVID-19 killed tens of

“I said, ‘. t mine. My residents still have so much to live for,'" Martin said in an interview. “I don't want this virus to kill m when y have been through so much.”

On Monday, Martin and 12 colleagues who stayed in home for full duration ended ir quarantine with hugs of celebration and singing, and with an uplifting victory: Coronavirus tests conducted on residents and staff all came back negative. caregivers, who nicknamed mselves “ happily confined," left in a convoy of cars, joyously honking horns and heading for reunions with families, pets and homes.

“We succeeded,” Martin said. “Every day, every hour, was a win.”

While COVID-19 killed people by dozens at some or homes, Martin said re were just four deaths at Vilava during ir lockdown and that ne appears to have been linked to virus. aver of residents at home is 87 and deaths were t unexpected, she said.

Because staff and residents were locked in toger, Vilava didn't have to confine people to ir rooms like or homes to shield m from risk of infection brought in from outside. That spared residents loneliness that has been agonizing for ors. Vilava allowed residents to continue to mingle and to get fresh air outside.

son of a 95-year-old resident described staff as “a fantastic team,” saying y saved his mor by shielding her from virus and keeping her spirits up, even holding celebrations for her birthday on April 17. Gilles Barret said home's

“It saved lives,” he said. “Perfect, perfect. I tip my hat to m.”

Martin said she didn't want ir residents to feel like “prisoners" and that it wouldn't have felt right to her had she continued to come and go from home while depriving m of ir liberty during France's lockdown, in place since March 17.

Residents were confined to ir rooms for two days at beginning while staffers gave home a thorough cleaning, and that proved “a catastrophe,” Martin said.

“In two days, we already saw people who started longer wanting to eat, people who didn't want to get up, people who said, ‘Why are you washing me? It’s pointless,'" she said,

In all, 29 of 50 staff volunteered to stay, bringing pillows, sleeping bags and clos on March 18 for what y initially thought might be a three-week stay but which y subsequently opted to extend. Or staff came from outside to help and were kept apart from residents and made to wear masks and take or protective measures to prevent infections.

carers slept on mattresses on floor. Martin slept in her office. One of volunteers left a 10-month-old baby at home. team tallied days on a blackboard marked: “Always toger with heart.”

“It was tough," said caregiver Vanessa Robert. But re were also moments of “total joy, getting toger in evenings, fooling around, tossing water bombs at each or.”

Martin said her top priority w is to console her estranged cat, Fanta. And one of weirdest moments of lockdown was climbing back into her car and hearing same tune on CD player — Limp Bizkit's "Mission Impossible" soundtrack — that she had been listening to when she parked seven weeks earlier.

“It was a bit like entering a holiday camp,” she said. “Living a lockdown with 130 people is extremely rewarding.”