In nursing homes, 5.4% of those infected with Covid-19 died
It is common knowledge that the arrival of the pandemic hit nursing homes particularly hard. In the past, they were called assisted-living facilities, and before that, they were called poorhouses because most of them housed old, sick and unwanted people. Once in a while some young person too. At the request of Neatkarīgā, the Center for Disease Prevention and Control has compiled statistics on Covid-19 cases and deaths. And the numbers are horrifying.
From the outbreak last year until May 30 this year, 9,421 cases of Covid-19 have been detected in nursing homes and 511 people have died. So every eighteenth sick person died.
The reaper came too often
It is difficult to even imagine the panic and fear that prevailed in nursing homes in the days when morbidity and mortality reached their peak. For example, in the first week of December last year, 751 residents and employees fell ill in nursing homes, 69 died. Dividing these numbers, it turns out that every tenth died. Of course, the infection took place in previous weeks, but psychologically it was certainly difficult for the elderly to deal with this many deaths. Neatkarīgā visited Ropaži before the elections, and there is a nursing home cemetery some distance from the parish center. Ropaži nursing home is large. It is home to disabled people of groups I and II with mental disorders. They are brought there from all over Latvia. Both young and old people. Brought mostly to live the rest of their lives there. Therefore, nursing homes usually have their own cemeteries, also in Ropaži. During this long Covid-19 season, a number of fresh plots and wooden crosses have been added to the nursing home cemetery. Too many new crosses to attribute only to fate and the indisputable truth that the reaper will come for each of us.
Outbreak homes
Many deaths in nursing homes in Latvia and also in other countries point to the co-responsibility of politicians and social sector officials in the deaths of these vulnerable and mostly unwanted people. Nursing homes, as statistics show, did not provide care appropriate to the conditions of the pandemic. They became hotbeds of disease as their low-paid workers spread the virus across nursing homes while working in several places at the same time. High mortality rates were soon noticed by politicians. The parties began to discuss which of them was more to blame. The coalition's partners threatened to demand the resignation of the Minister of Welfare, Ramona Petraviča. According to LETA, the ombudsman Juris Jansons also emphasized that "taking care of the safety of the elderly in nursing home institutions is a direct responsibility of the Ministry of Welfare and municipalities, which they have not managed, thus endangering people's lives." However, Covid-19 was also brought in en masse to institutions under other ministers and parties, where many people live in the same premises - prisons, hospitals, schools and kindergartens. Nowhere had mortality as high as in nursing homes, but at that time Petraviča still remained in office.
Mortality is within normal limits
Vaccination of employees and clients of long-term nursing homes was started in February this year. From the very beginning, the majority of residents wanted to be vaccinated. At least that is what the Ministry of Welfare said, demanding that the Ministry of Health provide the vaccines immediately. In contrast, the demand among employees was low. In the end, high mortality rates worked better than televised vaccinations of officials and the establishment of a vaccination superbureau. Already in the middle of March, 67% of the total number of residents and employees were vaccinated in nursing homes. At present, according to the data of the Center for Disease Prevention and Control, the disease is under control. In recent weeks, the number of cases from 50 people a week has already fallen below 40, but deaths that are diagnosed with Covid-19 - one or two people a week.
Additional information
On January 1, 2021, a total of 11,127 residents lived in long-term nursing home institutions. From them:
In public and contract organisation nursing homes: 4372 adults + 28 young people;
In municipal and private nursing homes: 6727 residents.