Being ostracized: Virus leaves its mark for UK's elderly

From resounding applause to ostracization and isolation.

That's essentially the journey Lt. Cmdr. Robert Embleton, who served 34 years in Britain's Royal Navy, took by ambulance when discharged from Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, southwestern England, on April 8 following his near-month sickness with COVID-19.

Arriving at his retirement home, he immediately went into self-isolation with his wife of 55 years, Jean, who has shown no symptoms of the virus. Soon after, Embleton realized he was carrying some new baggage the stigma of the virus. He even considered buying a bell to warn of his presence.

I was regarded as a sort of leper, a plague carrier. Some people when they spotted me, they recoiled, the 79-year-old told The Associated Press. I was particularly regarded as a menace. That's some contrast to his final moments at Derriford Hospital, when the somewhat embarrassed Embleton received a round of applause from all the front-line staff from the cleaners to the doctors.

Embleton received an MBE honor from Queen Elizabeth II in 1993 for outstanding service to the Royal Navy. He understands the need to shield those elderly people with underlying conditions, but says those without serious health issues should be treated with much more "common sense."
Luckily, both he and Jean have the upheavals and separation of the naval years to help them get through the weeks and months ahead. Embleton said the isolation reminds him of the time he spent aboard the HMS