ABSTRACT
COVID-19 has caused many governments to impose age-based restrictions without acknowledging the range of lived experience people have in similar age groups. Whilst in disciplines such as gerontology chronological age as a marker for ‘oldness’ has been critiqued for decades, this pandemic has shown that the diversity of later life is not taken into account. In many geographical locations, one-size-fits-all guidelines for people aged 70 and over are being imposed. Physical touch has been at the centre of governmental restrictions which has caused many older people to experience the loss of social visits and, importantly, of physical touch. As COVID-19 is airborne and can be spread when one is in close proximity of someone else, touch is actively discouraged, leaving older people with a sense of ‘touch hunger’. Touch is an important feature of human live. The absence of touch is shaping the experience of older people living in lockdown conditions. Building on empirical work that centres the voices of older people, this chapter highlights the everyday impact of a world with no physical touch. Importantly, it should be noted that COVID-19 has also opened up space for new ways of being connected. Though there is a clear digital divide, increasingly older people are able to keep in touch with other people online. As a consequence, for some older adults, this pandemic has been a time in which they have felt more socially connected than before. Focusing on touch and its absence, this chapter demonstrates how older people in various geographical locations try to cope with the presence of COVID-19 in their everyday lives.
