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Anthony Lam is the building manager at the historic May Wah, a single-room occupancy hotel in Vancouver’s Chinatown.

Its many elderly and low-income residents are living through the pandemic lockdown in cramped conditions, using communal kitchens and bathrooms.

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But they are also getting more support compared to those in buildings that are less high-profile and well-supported by volunteers and donors.

Lam speaks to many of the more than 90 residents in Cantonese. “More than half are over 60 years old, and about 20 of them are over 80 years old, and some have weaker health conditions.”

The pandemic has focused attention on care of seniors, the risk of outbreaks spreading quickly in areas such as the Downtown Eastside, and the inequity of what fragile groups with fewer resources, space and information might face in preventing the spread of COVID-19.

That makes Lam a front-line worker of sorts, especially now that no outside visitors are allowed into the May Wah.