The oldest man in Europe, French convent Sister Andre, has lived in Covid-19 and will be celebrating her 117th birthday this week, her caretakers said.
Lucile Randon, who took the name of Sister Andre when she entered a Catholic charity order in 1944, tested positive for coronavirus at her retirement home in Toulon, southern France, on January 16th. She was isolated from other residents, but had no symptoms.
She told Var-Matin newspaper “I didn’t even realize I had it.”
When asked if she was afraid of having Covid, Andre told BFM French television: “No, I wasn’t scared because I wasn’t scared to death … I’m happy to be with you, but I would like to be somewhere else – come with my big brother and my grandparents. “
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David Tavella, a spokeswoman for Sainte Catherine Labouré’s retirement home, said she was doing well.
“It simply came to our notice then. She is very relaxed and is looking forward to celebrating her 117th birthday on Thursday. ”
He said Andre, who is blind but very spirited, celebrates his birthday with a smaller group of residents than usual because of the risk of coronavirus infection.
“She has been very lucky,” he said.
Andre, born February 11, 1904, is the second oldest person in the world according to the Gerontology Research Association (GRG) high-ranking list. Japan’s Kane Tanaka is the oldest, who turned 118 on Jan. 2.
The 20 oldest people in the world on the GRG list are all female.