Authorities in several countries, including the United States, Italy, Spain, France and Canada, have launched inquiries into how elderly care facilities have responded to the coronavirus crisis after reports emerged of high death rates at those facilities.
The pandemic has shone a spotlight on nursing homes across the world, where thousands of elderly residents, who are most vulnerable to the disease, are believed to have died after contracting it.
ITALY
An Italian care home is under investigation after 143 residents were found to have died since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Families of residents are demanding answers following reports that medical staff were stopped from using protective gear, prosecutors are now investigating the facility and more than a dozen others.
The Lombardy Region has mandated ATS of Milan to set up a commission for what is happening at Pio Albergo Trivulzio one of the largest nursing homes in the country
Coronavirus, Deputy Minister Sileri stated “Trivulzio is not the only case, but we are waiting for inspector conclusions.
Italy has recorded over 22,000 coronavirus deaths but care home deaths are not included.
SPAIN
In March, Spain’s state prosecutor launched an investigation after soldiers found elderly patients abandoned or dead in retirement homes in the country
The Government has ordered the 17 autonomous regions to unify their criteria on counting the dead, the official toll stands at 20,000 but it doesn’t take into account the people who had symptoms but were not tested – including thousands of people in care homes.
US
In the US, the Governor of the state of New Jersey has ordered a probe into a nursing home in the town of Andover, where 17 bodies had been found in a makeshift morgue.
The first two deaths reported in the US from the coronavirus were residents at the Life Care Center of Kirkland, an elderly home in Washington state.
Since then, officials have said at least 35 coronavirus deaths have been associated with the facility, which faces a federal fine of more than $600,000 after investigators determined the home did not have a proper system in place to deal with the outbreak and did not respond properly.
While the federal government has not released a national tally, a count by the AP news agency has linked 6,912 coronavirus deaths to nursing homes in the country.
CANADA
In the Canadian city of Montreal, officials are investigating after health authorities were called to the Residence Herron elderly home, which had been largely abandoned by the staff.
Responders found residents dehydrated, unfed for days and lying listlessly in bed, some covered in excrement. The deaths of two residents had gone unnoticed for several days.
FRANCE
In France, the regional public health authority has launched an investigation into why so many people died at a nursing home in Cote D’Azur.
At the La Riviera nursing home, 36 of the 109 residents had died from coronavirus-related illnesses after the first infection was confirmed at the home, according to the local mayor’s office, which registers the deaths.
Experts have said the deaths underline the need for blanket testing at such facilities, where staff attempted to isolate those believed to be infected, but where systematic testing was not implemented for 20 days.
“Maybe if we had been able to test from the beginning, everything would have been different.”
SWEDEN
There is anger in Sweden as elderly pay the price for the coronavirus strategy – Staff with no masks or sanitiser fear for residents as hundreds die in care homes when asked why they didn’t use face masks, they said they were following the guidelines.”
UK
Public Health England has stated there are 3,084 care homes with COVID-19 outbreaks in England.
The ONS recorded 217 care home deaths from COVID-19 up until April 3 – but Care England said it had collected data which suggests fatalities are far higher and could be up to 7,500 but without testing it is very difficult to give an absolute figure.
A disturbing story was aired on Sky News in which care home owner, Graham Greenaway of Warberries Nursing Home in Torquay stated he was being asked to take in patients from hospitals who were actively suffering from Covid-19 he stated asking us to take in COVID-19 positive patients is basically asking us to make out a suicide note for people in care.
Lucy Hall, Head of Care at the Home then shows an isolation room in which they put a 91-year-old patient suffering from a high temperature and stated the failure of not carrying out testing in care homes meant that they could not be sure whether he had Coronavirus and because of that relatives were unable to be present when he passed away.
Also due to lack of testing she was unable to visit her grandfather who suffers from Parkinsons when he had a fall and was taken into hospital – she stated that he was put into a ward with coronavirus patients but sent home after testing positive – she said they were basically sending him home to die.
Analysis
I have merely scratched the surface of what could turn out to be as big a scandal as the Mid Staffs debacle – the stories I have uncovered are truly shocking.
Q: Why was there no available testing or adequate provision of PPE in Nursing Homes?
This has led to forced isolation – Social isolation and loneliness is well known to adversely affect physical and mental well being especially among the elderly.
The banning of family visits is clearly having a catastrophic affect not only on the quality of life of care home residents; but has effectively put them in harms way by removing the oversight of family members on the level of care being administered within many of these Institutions.
Q: How many deaths will be brought about by the lockdown which we are told on a daily basis is in place to protect the vulnerable?.
I am sure there is more to follow on this emerging international scandal.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVYPUh8Uw0Q[/embedyt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT5vuQWD-PY
I wrote my first article for Unity News Network on 30th December 2019, and I have been writing ever since – my library is now well in excess of 200 articles.
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