82-year-old lives in ‘voluntary quarantine’ 3 years after pandemic

TRABZON

Despite the quarantine period of the COVID-19 pandemic ending a long time ago, an 82-year-old man living alone in a village house in the northern province of Trabzon has put himself under “voluntary quarantine,” isolating himself without accepting visitors.

In Vakfıkebir district, İsmail Hacıfettahoğlu settled in his house in Fethiye village for an isolated life against the coronavirus that affected the world three years ago.

Hacıfettahoğlu, who lost his wife to cancer 15 years ago, continues to stay under “voluntary quarantine” in his house, where he lives alone, despite the lifting of restrictions and the normalization of life.

The old man, who has been vaccinated by the health officials who came to his house and has not been out of his house for about three years, does not go to the bazaar or market, does not accept visitors, and spends time with his chickens, bees and pigeons.

“I am never bored here. Village life is very nice. I live in the village because I am afraid of the virus. We have seen people who are not afraid of the virus. Everyone should be very careful about their health. There were people who died because they did not pay attention. If they had paid attention to their health, they would not have caught the virus and died,” he said.

His son, Tuncay Hacıfettahoğlu, said that he meets his father’s needs by paying attention to his hygiene rules, adding that his father is happier in the village and has built a unique life here for himself and that doctors advise them to not force him back to the city.