During the past year we have managed to avoid Corona outbreaks in our communal Lone Soldier Residences. This past January our luck ran out and one of the lone soldiers living in our housing tested positive for the virus. The soldier had come into contact with eight other lone soldiers in the facility, all of whom were obligated to immediately enter quarantine.
What do you do in a situation like this? Where do you even begin?
On the night of the outbreak, we made dozens of phone calls to all the soldiers and their commanders. We made sure that each of the commanders knew when their soldier was in contact with the infected soldier. The apartment counselor, Moriah, spoke to the soldiers quarantined at their respective army bases in order to understand how they were doing and how we could be of assistance.
A few days later, Moriah also tested positive for Covid and had to enter isolation. All our staff sprang into action! We went grocery shopping for the soldiers living in our apartments; coordinated their Covid tests with the army; ensured that the soldiers had warm food for Shabbat, medicine and anything else they needed for the duration of their quarantines. We also made sure that there was a safe space for all the other soldiers in our apartments and arranged for separate housing for those not obliged to go into isolation. Our housing coordinator Naftali kept all of the isolated soldiers’ commanders updated throughout it all, while making sure all the soldiers were well taken care of.
Thanks to Naftali and Moriah, everything ran smoothly, and a few days ago the last soldier who had tested positive for Covid-19 was released from quarantine. These crazy times demand even more support than usual so we can be there for our soldiers. The pandemic has changed our lives completely and our lone soldiers require much more support than they usually do.
We are proud to be here to support them throughout their journeys as lone soldiers.
Our Lone Soldiers need us to support them, now more than ever.
