Daughter Removes Mom From Care Home, Gets Arrested

A retired nurse blocked from meeting her 97-year-old mother in person since March was arrested after removing her mom from a care home in England on Tuesday, days before new coronavirus lockdown rules went into effect. Humberside Police have since released without penalty 73-year-old Ylenia Angeli, whose "drastic action” came after nine months without face-to-face contact with her mother owing to the pandemic, per the BBC. A prime minister's spokesman says they "understand how difficult the current situation is" and have altered guidance to allow for visiting with social distancing and protective equipment, per the Guardian. Police, called to "a report of an assault at a care home" in east Yorkshire, had found the resident with dementia near the home with her granddaughter, actress Leandra Ashton, and daughter, who had to be briefly restrained.

Ashton says her mother reached a "breaking point" after months of "window visits," which were to be banned. "When we got there things just escalated. We didn't plan it." She notes Angeli had long wished to care for her mother, and "it just seemed like an opportunity to physically take her." The problem was that the family didn't have power of attorney over the resident's wellbeing. They aren't the only ones frustrated with the current situation. "The government is constantly saying to us, 'Yes, go back to work, contribute to society, we need to get the economy going,' and then, 'Oh no, wait, too much, quick lock down everything again,'" a Kent resident tells the New York Times. New restrictions, under which bars, restaurants, and nonessential shops are to close, went into effect Thursday. A day earlier, Britain recorded almost 500 deaths, its highest total since May. (More England stories.)