THE HAGUE – The new wave of corona cases mainly affects young people, but the virus is slowly but surely starting to penetrate into nursing homes. The number of positive tests among the elderly there is increasing, although it is still limited for the time being. The residents are most at risk from an infection and were therefore one of the first groups to be vaccinated at the beginning of this year.
The outlier was last Wednesday. Then 25 residents of nursing homes tested positive. That is the highest number since May 5, so more than two months ago. That figure is not complete, because reports can be delayed, so the number could still rise. In the past week, 61 residents have tested positive, an average of almost nine a day and that is the highest level since the end of May.
The number of nursing home locations affected by the coronavirus is also increasing. At least 36 locations had at least one positive test among residents in the last four weeks, the highest number in almost a month. In the four weeks to last Monday, there were 24 locations with a recent positive test. Compared to the peak, these are all still small numbers. At the beginning of January, 850 to 900 locations had a recent positive test, which amounts to more than a third of all nursing homes in the Netherlands.
less sick
The association of specialists in geriatric medicine, Verenso, recognizes the increase. “The infections are increasing slightly, but are still limited to the total number of residents,” says director Nanda Hauet. According to her, the increase is to be expected. “A nursing home is part of society. If the number of cases in society increases, so do the infections in the nursing home.” Many residents have been vaccinated against the coronavirus, as have some of the employees. “But that does not yet apply, for example, to all visitors or, for example, to young holiday workers,” says Hauet.
The corona vaccines cannot prevent every infection. But the vaccinated residents who now test positive, according to Hauet, appear less ill than before the vaccinations.
The number of deaths among residents remains low for the time being. Only six deaths have been recorded in the past month, the last of which was over a week ago. Around the turn of the year, more than fifty residents died a day, and in the first wave there were days when more than eighty nursing home residents died.
– .
