Bernd Klaus’ old room is only a few steps away from the Spree. The senior citizen center, decorated with red brick, is right on the Rummelsburger Bucht, on the Stralau peninsula in Friedrichshain. Mr. Klaus, with dementia and Parkinson’s, lived here for years.
Klaus actually had a different name, but his relatives want to remain anonymous. On December 7th, Bernd Klaus died in the “Haus an der Spree”. He was infected with the corona virus. Klaus is one of more than 500 Berliners whose beds in senior citizens’ facilities and nursing homes have become a death trap. His case shows how overwhelmed by the virus and the powerlessness of relatives.
In the “Haus an der Spree” alone, a facility with 200 residents, 61 patients and 27 employees have been infected with the virus since the beginning of December. This confirmed the home management and health administration. The Tagesspiegel reported shortly after the outbreak. “Everything is clear and under control,” said the responsible city councilor for health, Knut Mildner-Spindler (left) at the time.
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Ten people who were infected with the corona virus have now died – among them Bernd Klaus. “Here our fullest condolences and condolences go to the relatives for the loss in this difficult time”, writes home manager Katrin Wehrmann. You have always worked with the authorities. Authorities and relatives, however, raise allegations against the home.
It is December 7th, around noon. Ms. Klaus’s phone rings. A nurse is on it. “She said she now feels obliged to notify me. They would not take my husband to the hospital anymore because he was breathing very badly. ”Only then did she find out that her husband had tested positive for the corona virus days before. Nobody had informed them. That’s how the woman tells the Tagesspiegel.
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“I called the home management immediately. Can I see him? Because of the quarantine, they are not allowed to let anyone into the home, I should call again the next day. ”At about half past six the phone rang again. Herr Klaus had died, she hadn’t been able to see him again.
Also on December 7th, a letter reaches the Tagesspiegel editorial team, the author remains anonymous, another letter is in the mailbox of the Berlin home inspectorate. She is responsible for complaints from employees and residents of nursing homes, and may check homes for defects.
An anonymously written letter informs the home supervisor
In the letter, serious allegations are made against the management of the home, including names, dates and numbers of infections. On the instructions of the home management, swabs were said to have been taken from the residents not from the back of the nose, but from the front in order to cover up infections. Employees are said to have been instructed by the home management to conceal infections from relatives, authorities and journalists.
Employees are said to have been asked to continue working despite cold symptoms, the letter says. Due to a lack of staff, the employees are said to have worked on different stations and thus spread the virus in the facility. The case of Bernd Klaus is also mentioned in detail.
The home supervisor visited the home because of the allegations on December 8th together with the health department. As a result of the home supervision and after several consultations with the medical officer, hygiene violations were found, writes Lisa Frerichs, spokeswoman for Health Senator Dilek Kalayci (SPD). Employees also informed the authorities about “staff shortages in the care sector,” writes a spokeswoman for the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district.
The home manager rejects the allegations on request. Family doctors, authorities and relatives were notified immediately after the outbreak on December 3. All employees have been trained to carry out the rapid tests correctly. At the start of each shift, the staff must fill in a form stating that they are symptom-free.
Quarantine causes staff shortages
Rapid tests would be carried out if “requested by employees”. “We immediately took and implemented all applicable hygiene and protective measures, officially agreed measures,” writes home manager Katrin Wehrmann.
The employees were also not instructed to remain silent vis-à-vis authorities and journalists. “It is correct that the employees were trained on the subject of data protection,” writes Wehrmann. “The employees are subject to confidentiality, there is a risk of criminal prosecution in the event of a violation.”
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The infections among employees continue to cause problems for the “house on the Spree”: Most recently, shortly before Christmas, residents had to be moved to other facilities – due to a lack of staff due to quarantine. The website still reads in red: “The facility is in quarantine until further notice.” Visits are not possible.
“Every evening politicians tell us on the news: Nobody should die alone,” says Ms. Klaus. “But my husband died alone.” She hadn’t seen Bernd Klaus for weeks before he died.
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