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Timid new world; part 6
Making Humanity Redundant
Corona - Die Flucht der Pflegekräfte
Care homes during corona
Nursing homes played an absolute key role in the Covid 19 pandemic. In most countries, one to two thirds of all Covid19 deaths occurred in nursing homes, and up to 80% in Canada and some US states. Even in Sweden, which did not impose a lockdown, 75% of deaths occurred in nursing homes and nursing flats.
It is all the more worrying that some authorities have obliged their nursing homes to admit Covid patients from the clinics, which has almost always resulted in numerous new infections and deaths. This happened in northern Italy, England and the heavily affected US states of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
It is also known from northern Italy that the widespread fear of the virus and the announced lockdown led to the flight of the predominantly Eastern European nurses, which accelerated the breakdown of elderly care.
In the United States, at least 42% of all Covid19 deaths are accounted for by 0.6% of the population living in nursing homes. Nursing homes require targeted protection and do not benefit from a general lockdown of society as a whole.
In addition, it is often not clear whether these people really died from Covid-19 or from weeks of stress and total isolation. For example, there were approximately 30,000 additional deaths in English nursing homes, but in only 10,000 cases, Covid19 is noted on the death certificate.
In April alone, around 10,000 additional dementia patients without corona infection died in England and Wales due to weeks of isolation. Investigations into the situation in nursing homes have been initiated or requested in several countries.
The role of hospitals
The second central factor regarding infections and deaths, in addition to the nursing homes, are the hospitals themselves. A case study in Wuhan already showed that around 41% of hospitalized Covid patients had in fact contracted Covid in the hospital itself.
Contagion in hospitals also played a decisive role in northern Italy, Spain, England and other regions that were severely affected, meaning that the clinics themselves became the main place of transmission of Covid19 to already weakened people (so-called nosocomial infection) – an issue that had already been observed during the SARS outbreak from 2003.
Based on current knowledge, those countries that managed to avoid outbreaks of infection in nursing homes and hospitals had comparatively few deaths. The general lockdown, however, played no or a even a counterproductive role (see below).
It is well known that even common corona viruses (cold viruses) can be very dangerous for people in nursing homes. Stanford professor John Ioannidis pointed out already in mid-March that coronaviruses may have a case mortality rate of up to 8% in nursing homes.
Swiss Doctor
Mortality associated with COVID-19 outbreaks in care homes: early international evidence
As of June 1, nursing homes reported 2,973 cases and 608 deaths from the virus statewide. Assisted-living facilities, which typically provide a less-intensive level of care, had 1,243 cases and 259 deaths, the state said. Another 29 residents have died of the virus in specialized memory care units, the agency said.
Data shows over 17,500 confirmed or probable Covid-19 deaths at Spain’s care homes
Despite difficulty obtaining figures, an EL PAÍS tally shows more than 72,000 infections or suspicious cases at these centers, which have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic
To date, the coronavirus has infected more than 16,000 residents in long-term care facilities and killed more than 4,000. Throughout this time, the Wolf administration has been repeatedly criticized for its slow response and missteps in protecting these vulnerable residents.
June 2020 - newly public information shows 52 of the state's 83 total deaths due to COVID-19 — or 60% — are associated with nine long-term care facilities, and 289 cases are residents or staff at 25 care facilities.
BOISE state Public radio
New European nursing home data shows hidden extent of coronavirus crisis
In Belgium of the 4,857 deaths linked to the coronavirus reported as of April 16, 2,387 happened in care homes, according to the LSE study. That amounts to just over 49 percent.
Around 64 percent of Norway’s 223 covid-19 related deaths were also associated with care homes.
Similarly, a majority of Spain’s coronavirus deaths are believed to have taken place among staff and elderly residents in care homes. Of 19,516 deaths as of April 16, 10,924 were care home residents. That figure amounts to just over 52 percent.
In one particularly gruesome incident in Spain, in March soldiers came across the corpses of coronavirus victims in one home after they had been abandoned.
Coronavirus: Care homes faced funding cut if they didn't take in COVID-19 patients
Sky News has seen letters which show local authorities threatened to withhold so-called uplift payments during the outbreak.
But one told us: "My anguish and sadness is purely arisen from the thoughtless and neglectful conduct of the local authorities demanding that providers admit into their homes COVID-19 positive and untested residents.
"This has undoubtedly caused a huge spike in infections and resulted in deaths that were avoidable."
SKYNEWS
Care home deaths are increasingly making up a bigger share of all deaths which mention Covid-19 on the death certificate.
Prof Spiegelhalter and other experts think it’s more likely that seriously ill people are staying away from hospitals and surgeries and dying in care homes instead.
A research team hosted by the LSE found last month that more than half of all reported Covid-19 deaths in Belgium, France, Ireland, Norway and some Spanish regions were happening in care homes.
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