A Nursing Home’s First Day Out of Lockdown: An Update

This week, The Daily is revisiting some of our favorite episodes of the year and checking in on what has happened in the time since they first ran.

The Good Shepherd Nursing Home in West Virginia lifted its coronavirus lockdown in February.

For months, residents had been confined to their rooms, unable to mix. But with everybody vaccinated, it was time to see one another again, albeit with rules on social distancing and mask wearing still in place.

There was Mass in the chapel, lunch in the dining room (decked out in Valentine’s Day decorations) and a favorite activity: the penny auction. Top prize? A tub of cheese puffs.

In March, we shared the home’s some of the relief and joy about the tiptoe back to normalcy. Today, we return to the home to see how life has changed.

Guest: Sarah Mervosh, a national reporter for The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

The happiness inside the Good Shepherd Nursing Home, after a nearly a year in lockdown.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.