1.6 million facemasks and 20,000 corona tests go to rest homes
Desperately needed protective equipment and coronavirus tests are finally on their way to Flanders’ hundreds of nursing homes
Struggling with an infectious disease
While seven million facemasks arrived in the country late last week, the quality was questioned, and they are now in the process of being tested by local labs. Separately from that, 1.6 million masks ordered by the government of Flanders arrived and are making their way into rest homes, which have been ill-prepared to face the corona crisis.
Nursing homes have had a rash of infections, and staff have been complaining since the outbreak of the virus that they are not trained in the prevention of infectious diseases. Caregivers are also being asked to keep working even if they have tested positive for the virus to make sure there is no shortage of staff.
“Many caregivers are afraid of infecting nursing home residents or members of their own families,” said the ACV union in a statement. “They want answers to specific questions so that they can feel secure in going to work.”
Figures confusing
The chair of the caregiver federation Befezo, Paul Cappelier, laid out those questions and made demands. “First, we want many more people tested inside the rest homes,” he said. “Then, we want all of our staff to receive training on how to care for infected residents. Thirdly, we want proper safety guidelines for our workers and for our residents. And finally, we want clear communication on this: Do caregivers who have tested positive for the virus have to keep working?”
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, 619 nursing home residents in Flanders have died. Of the 80,000 residents, nearly 3,000 are known to be infected with the virus. But because nursing homes never had access to tests, the figures are thought to be much higher.
The 1.6 million facemasks are being distributed in nursing homes now, and 20,000 tests have been made available. The first tests will be carried out in the homes with the largest rate of infections.
Criticism has also been levied against Flemish public health minister Wouter Beke for only today releasing official figures of the number of residents who have died in nursing homes. The numbers reported by the nursing homes were also not included in the official figures released every morning by the federal government. Those figures only include hospital deaths.
There were two reasons for this: First, not all of the nursing home residents who died had been tested. “These are elderly people with underlying medical conditions,” explained virologist Steven Van Gucht. “Sometime the virus has been confirmed, but sometimes the death is based on an assumption.”
More importantly, the nursing homes were reporting deaths to the government of Flanders, but it was unclear how many of the residents who had died were in the hospital or in the nursing homes. The figures were not sent to the federal government for fear that some deaths would be counted twice.
Nursing homes are now only reporting deaths that have taken place in the home itself, and these are being included in the federal figures.
We are running the risk that our nursing home system will collapse
Conner Rousseau, chair of Flemish socialist party SP.A, said that he was “extremely concerned about the situation in the rest homes. There are a lack of tests, a lack of protective gear and only now accurate figures. I expect a thorough explanation of this situation, in the interests of the seniors and caregivers in our nursing homes.”
An anonymous nursing home worker took to VRT this week to testify that staff desperately needed training to deal with the current situation. In a response, Hans Struyven, the director of the Regional Hospital in Tienen, and Jeroen Van den Brandt, the chair of doctors’ association Hazoh, published an open letter in De Tijd.
“Our hospitals are doing an excellent job, but home care and residential care centres are also crucial,” the pair wrote. “They urgently need help and support from the hospitals. After a month of hard work, the situation in most hospitals is more or less under control. We have an army of well-prepared and trained soldiers. They are routine and sufficiently protected. They are also incredibly motivated.”
‘Crucial partners’
But hospitals, they note, “are just one part of the healthcare system. The nursing homes are crucial partners, and we are terribly concerned about their situation. A group of older, fragile residents with often multiple pathologies are in close contact with one another.”
The physicians called on hospitals to offer help to rest homes and for rest homes to ask their local hospitals for the help they need. “Help and support are desperately needed,” they said. “Otherwise, we are running the risk that our nursing home system will collapse. And where is the knowledge that they need? In the hospitals.”
They then go on to make suggestions for exactly how co-operations could take place, such as video training and conferences, a central databank for specific help needed and specialists who have less work during the corona crisis working with staff in nursing homes.
Photos, from top: Eric Lalmand/BELGA, Dirk Waem/BELGA
