The CDC guidance seems to say it all: those who are 65 and older are at higher risk of severe illness and even death from the coronavirus. And if you don’t scratch beneath that surface, such guidance seems to paint a broad brushstroke of all older adults: That they are fragile and frail, susceptible to disease and certain to become sick and that overall, they’re on a path of decline and deterioration. Such a “decline narrative” of older adults is easy to construct if you only skim the surface of headlines and news reports. And even though data from nursing homes is truly staggering in terms of the number of COVID-19 deaths, what gets less attention is that only a small fraction of older adults actually live in nursing homes. What is of real concern then is that this image of seniors will feed into an ageist stereotype of all older adults that not only minimizes the diversity and resilience of our older population but causes increased bias and discrimination (such as in the realm of employment), as older adults are viewed as second class citizens on their way out. In essence, as Professor Michael Smyer recently wrote, “We can’t let the coronavirus spread another virus: stereotypes of aging that affect both today’s older people and the prospects for aging for all members of society.”

What we fail to highlight when we lump all older adults together out of concern for their risk of infection is that older adults are not a homogenous group: there are socioeconomic, ethnic, racial and gender differences, along with distinctions in chronological versus biological aging that mean you can’t generalize about whether and how older adults will confront serious medical challenges. We all age differently and when we simplify with out-of-date stereotypes of what it means to be an older adult, we risk devaluing the contributions and complexities that accompany a later stage in life. That’s been of particular concern during the pandemic with discussions about limiting access to life-saving equipment for older adults or with the lack of personal protective devices for those who care for older adults in long term care facilities: are we suggesting that older adults, even those in a debilitated state, and the people who care for them, are “expendable” or can be sacrificed for the benefit of others? At times, it seems we’ve come dangerously close to relegating seniors, especially those frail and vulnerable, to what may be known as “throwaway culture:” those whose lives are worth less in our society.

Perhaps this pandemic will have a silver lining when it comes to older adults: with the light shined on the poor conditions in which so many seniors reside we may come to value our older population more and change the circumstances that have led to such horrific death rates among certain senior populations. And, given some of the heroes of this time, including 79-year-old Dr. Anthony Fauci, we will come to see the brilliant contributions and continuing value and diversity that older people provide within our communities. As one expert from the University of Arizona recently commented, “When older people die, we are losing people like him (Fauci).”