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The series of fatal corona outbreaks in Berlin nursing homes continues. According to an investigation by the Tagesspiegel, nine people died in a home in Wilmersdorf, six people died in a Mariendorf nursing home and seven people died in an outbreak in a home in Biesdorf. More than 200 residents and employees at the three facilities tested positive. More than half of the now more than 1,000 corona deaths in Berlin lived in homes.
The 91-year-old man complains of a severe cough and shortness of breath. His living room has been in quarantine for weeks, relatives cannot visit him in his room. It is not revealed to the outside world if you have the corona virus. That’s what a family member says.
At the house of the “Wilmersdorfer Seniorenstiftung” on Hohensteiner Strasse in Wilmersdorf, more than 30 employees and residents are infected, confirmed Tuesday the Councilor responsible for Health Detlef Wagner (CDU) at the request of Tagesspiegel. Nine residents died from or with the corona virus.
Until mid-November, not a single case had been registered at the municipal sponsor’s facilities. “Then he got us, too,” Wagner says. He is not only the city councilor for health, but also the chairman of the foundation’s supervisory board, and District Mayor Reinhard Naumann (SPD) is his deputy.
“We have followed a very strict hygiene concept since the beginning of the corona pandemic,” says Wagner. How the virus got into the home is not yet clear, but employees were infected first. Follow-up is difficult because many cases were asymptomatic.
City Council: No infractions of the hygiene concept have been found
The district health department, which Wagner also oversees, examined the house after the outbreak but, according to the city council, could not find any violation of the hygiene concept. “The health department conducts completely neutral checks, I am not authorized to give instructions to my doctor,” Wagner said when asked by the Tagesspiegel. Staff and residents underwent extensive PCR testing and rapid testing.
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It contradicted the impression that the residents had not been screened. “If we think someone has Corona, then the nurses get the message that they are very careful; as soon as the respiratory tract or circulation is attacked, the fire department is called to the hospital for transport.” -2 masks, hands would be disinfected when entering and leaving the room.
As in many homes, staff coverage is “very thin”
The staff cover at Wilmersdorfer Seniorenstiftung was “very thin,” as in many other houses, Wagner said. Also, the employees should have been quarantined. Therefore, the staff should have worked at different stations.
“The workload and stress are very high at the moment, so I do not want to put my hand in the fire to ensure that all the rules are always followed,” the city council said. The managing director had written to him that they had “their backs to the wall” when it came to the personnel situation.
Criticism of the dual role as technical supervisor and member of the foundation’s board
Relatives had approached the Tagesspiegel and also criticized Wagner’s dual role as a specialized supervisor of the health department and a member of the foundation’s board. This made it difficult to clear up the faults, a relative said. He wants to remain anonymous at home because he is concerned about his father’s disadvantages.
Wagner said: “In this very special case of Corona, the dual role may seem strange.” However, he was not authorized to give instructions and the doctor could transmit defects against his will.
The municipal foundation gives the district the opportunity to offer older people a home in their neighborhood. “That’s why I think the idea of the founding of the district and its strong political structure still makes sense.”
Wilmersdorfer Seniorenstiftung has managed four residential buildings with 375 apartments in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf since 2003. In 2019, another 11 senior housing units with 894 apartments were taken over. There are also three nursing homes.
Managing Director Ronald Jahnke rejects the allegations by the relatives. After consulting with the management of the house in question, he “could not confirm” this, he said when asked by the Tagesspiegel. Residents and employees are “periodically screened for the corona virus, in accordance with official requirements.” If there is a positive test result, all further measures will be immediately coordinated with the health department and the home supervisory authority.
86 cases, six deaths in the Lerchenweg nursing home
As it became known Tuesday, there was also a large crown outbreak at a retirement home in Mariendorf. Six residents of the Lerchenweg nursing home have died; A total of 64 of the 79 elderly people living there are infected with the coronavirus, 22 of the 72 employees tested positive. First the “BZ” reported about it.
As the home’s managing director, Ulf Scharnweber, told Tagesspiegel on December 11, the rapid tests gave a positive result for both an employee and a resident.
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Action was taken immediately. Residents were only allowed in the bedrooms, no one was allowed to visit the house, and there was a strict quarantine. The report to the health department was made directly. But the most informative PCR tests weren’t carried out until December 16. Then it happened very fast; many residents have tested positive.
Scharnweber cannot explain how the virus spreads in this way. All safety precautions have always been taken. Employees wore FFP2 masks, were tested daily with rapid tests, residents three times a week, distance rules were observed. The deceased had hardly any symptoms, were very old and weak.
Meanwhile, 40 residents have been transferred to an emergency center operated by the Vivantes hospital group in Kreuzberg; however, two of them had to be hospitalized after their condition worsened.
“We just forgot about the nursing homes”
By relocating residents, space was found in the Mariendorf facility, and infected and uninfected people could now be better spatially separated on floors. Infection and quarantine of employees, some of whom are now ill and showing symptoms, now lead to significant personnel problems, even if fewer residents are present. “It creaks everywhere and we move from shift to shift,” says Scharnweber. Also, you have to deal with a lot of bureaucracy.
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The managing director criticized the fact that in the summer it was neglected at the state level to agree on a uniform procedure and establish a common platform for the different offices and institutions such as the health department, home supervision and nursing homes to which everyone can access. The lists would have to be sent individually to different locations.
“We just forget about nursing homes,” says Scharnweber. He also expresses his lack of understanding that it took five days after the first positive rapid test before the PCR tests were performed. The Lerchenweg Nursing Home is a facility of a small private sponsor who also has a home in Lichtenberg in a subsidiary.
Seven dead and 89 infected in Biesdorfer Heim
There are a total of 89 corona cases in relation to the “Biesdorfer Höhe” nursing home in Marzahn-Hellersdorf. As a spokesperson for the operator told Tagesspiegel on Tuesday, seven people died after a coronavirus infection. 60 of 158 residents have tested positive. In addition, 29 of the around 100 employees, 18 of them nursing, are infected and are quarantined at home.
The house was made visible through a “serendipitous find,” as Mayor Dagmar Pohle (Linke), who is also a health councilor in her district, told Tagesspiegel: After rapid tests with four symptom-free employees came back positive, management had rapid testing done on all residents. When 16 of them also tested positive, the facility informed the health department. The most accurate PCR tests from the weekend before the last revealed the full scope, although a rapid test had previously been negative in one case.
Mayor: “Obviously there were deficiencies”
Pohle provided little information on the possible causes of the outbreak. “Obviously there were deficiencies, otherwise this outbreak could not have happened,” said the left-wing politician. However, there were only “minor anomalies” during the health department inspections. An employee forgot his gloves while serving food. On the other hand, employees wore FFP2 masks and were asked about symptoms before starting work.
However, during a visit as part of the tests, the doctor had to point out the necessary spatial separation between residents who tested positive and not positive. “Obviously, this has not been adequately accomplished in the past,” Pohle concluded, and like Wagner, he showed understanding for the workload of the staff. This is now increasing due to the outbreak: due to the large number of quarantined employees, others have to postpone their days off in order to guarantee the care of residents, explained the operator, the French group Orpea.
Operator: “This rapid spread surprised us”
“We don’t see that we have made mistakes,” said an Orpea spokesman. “This rapid spread surprised us. That has not been announced ”. Since the beginning of the pandemic, “strict protective precautions and hygiene measures” have been implemented in the home, which everyone observes. There is also sufficient protective equipment available.
After positive rapid tests, those affected should have stayed in their rooms. When the results of the PCR tests became available, two isolation areas were established. “Residents who have tested positive are guaranteed to always be cared for by the same employees with special protective equipment who do not have contact with non-positive residents in other living areas,” the spokesperson explained. The operator expressed his condolences to the relatives of the deceased.
In coordination with the health department, the facility was temporarily closed to visitors last week. Pohle explained that it was not understandable whether residents had been infected from employees who tested positive or from outside guests without symptoms.
