Due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, whose mortality rate is higher in the elderly, a series of measures have been taken in nursing homes in Europe.
Nursing homes in the worst-hit countries by the pandemic, such as Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, and Spain, have been facing serious difficulties.
Visitors are banned from these facilities as part of measures to stem the spread of the virus, while there is a shortage of medical supplies.
Some families want to take their relatives from these facilities as they fear that there is no enough protection against the virus.
According to Robert Koch Institute in Germany, 87% of those who died in the country were over 70 years old.
Nearly 800,000 people are living in nursing homes in Germany and most of them have other different health issues.
Although measures were taken, the increase in the number of cases in nursing homes cannot be curbed.
Many nursing homes have announced that they will not accept new guests due to the increasing number of cases and deaths. Schleswig-Holstein state also banned taking new guests.
Like other countries, Belgium is also facing a shortage of medical supplies.
Vincent Fredericq, head of Belgium’s nursing home association, said some families have sewn masks and donated to nursing homes, adding staff members of these facilities are also at risk.
Belgium also released a decree to keep elderly COVID-19 patients with preexisting conditions in nursing homes and not to send them to hospitals.
People who are working in nursing homes in Italy have quarantined themselves and there is no one to take care of the elderly. Families are worried because they cannot reach their relatives.
In Bergamo province, where the most deaths and cases are seen from the coronavirus, 600 people staying in nursing homes have died in 20 days.
Also, 33 people died in nursing homes in Brescia, the worst-hit region after Bergamo.
Source: AA
