The coronavirus pandemic has been a truly unparalleled event, with billions of people across the world suddenly having to deal with a situation that none of them have any kind of experience with. The deadly virus has already claimed so many lives while infecting and affecting countless more, and the statistics regarding coronavirus cases in care homes, in particular, have made for terrifying reading.
Over 40% of COVID-19 cases in the United States have been linked with nursing homes. In recent times, the Trump Administration has sought to battle back against these alarming figures, announcing various new resources and initiatives designed to protect care home workers and residents.
COVID testing is now required in all nursing homes, for example, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has devoted an additional $5 billion of the Provider Relief Fund to care facilities and nursing homes across the nation, but why were care homes so heavily affected in the first place? And what factors have increased the risks for care home residents and workers?
Well, there's firstly the fact that care home residents, due to their elderly age, are simply more at risk of dying from the virus. Studies and statistics have shown that older individuals are more likely to suffer serious symptoms and potentially life-threatening cases, often due to other health conditions like respiratory problems or weak hearts.
But in addition to the natural risks faced by elderly populations all over the globe, a range of other key factors have contributed to the spread of coronavirus in care homes.
Workers Are the Vectors
Studies have shown that in the vast majority of cases in which coronavirus has been introduced into care homes, it has been brought in by a member of staff and then transmitted to the residents, rather than the other way around. This means that residents aren't actually the main vectors for the virus.
Instead, workers, who have to go in and out of homes, perhaps attend other jobs, and visit other locations throughout each typical day, are finding themselves the most at risk of catching the virus and then bringing it into their places of work. Just one worker being exposed to the virus could lead to a huge infection rate throughout a single nursing home.
Testing Issues
So why have workers in care homes been such potent vectors for the virus? Well, one of the key problems with coronavirus in nursing homes all over the globe has been down to a lack of testing. In an ideal situation, staff would need to be tested every single time they enter a care home for their daily working shifts, and the results would need to be provided in a matter of minutes, rather than several days, as has been the case with some coronavirus tests.
Unfortunately, with many nursing homes also being short-staffed and workers having relatively low wages compared to other professions, it's more likely for corners to be cut and workers to bring the virus into care facilities due to the fact that they may be working multiple jobs in order to pay the bills.
Lack Of Equipment
Another issue associated with care home workers is a lack of protective equipment and related supplies. It's not just testing kits that have sometimes been in short supply in care homes, but other equipment like masks, gloves, and goggles too. With new evidence suggesting that the virus is airborne and can be transmitted even more easily than previously believed, protective equipment is essential.
An absence of this kind of equipment can lead to devastating results, as seen in care homes and other locations across the world. Studies and research have shown that personal protective equipment, also known as PPE, can massively reduce the chances of spreading this virus, and a care home with sufficient PPE supplies will naturally have a better chance of success than one with an absence of PPE.
Unclear Instructions
In some cases, the instructions for care homes perhaps weren't always clear enough or weren't fully understood, and once again, cases and reports have varied all around the world in this regard. In many countries, government guidelines have been changing and evolving as the weeks and months have gone by and new data is unveiled, and care homes have had to adapt to these changes.
There have been some situations in which elderly care home residents, already at risk due to their age and likelihood of pre-existing health conditions, may have been put at further risk due to a lack of instructions or guidance for their care providers.
Focus On Hospitals
Trends in America regarding excessive coronavirus cases in care homes have been replicated all over the world, as governments and authorities tend to put a lot of their focus on hospitals, providing supplies, testing kits, and support to these key medical institutions, and perhaps overlooking care homes to a certain degree in the process.
High numbers and disastrous stories from care homes have been reported far and wide, all over Europe and North America too. When the virus began to spread, countries had to adapt fast and make speedy decisions, sometimes without enough scientific data to go on, and this naturally led to some mistakes being made along the way.
Conclusion
In many cases, a combination of all of the above factors, such as lack of protective equipment and low testing rates, combined with sometimes unclear instructions and a focus on hospitals over care homes, had led to unavoidable deaths and infections among some of the most vulnerable people of society.
The situation is ongoing, and countries across the globe are attempting to protect their citizens as well as possible, saving as many lives as they can and mitigating the terrible effects of the virus. Fortunately, as time goes by and scientists learn more about dealing with COVID-19, levels of safety for care home workers and residents should begin to rise once more.
