[ad_1]
This article is over a month old and may contain outdated advice from authorities on coronary heart disease.
Stay up to date on the NRK overview or on the FHI website.
The worst nightmare for Norwegian municipalities during the pandemic is that the virus will remain in nursing homes, where all residents are at risk.
Today it emerged that an employee and a resident of the Gruben nursing home in the municipality of Rana were diagnosed with the coronavirus.
Marit Sviggum, specialist manager of institutional service in Rana municipality, says that they have now examined all employees and residents in the home.
– Today, the situation is still very unclear. We got this message from the infection control doctor last night, that a Gruben employee had tested positive.
– The employee had been working Tuesday and Wednesday last week and had symptoms, but we didn’t get a response to her test until last night.
Former nursing home presents challenges
On Tuesday, all 29 residents were tested, as well as the employees who were at work. The other 20 employees have been examined and quarantined.
Sviggum explains that the building is over 30 years old. This does not reduce the risk of infection.
– The entire ground floor is a large, old apartment with 29 residents. It’s not actually built like a normal nursing home, and it’s cramped. Two and two residents share a bathroom, so when you catch it in this ward, we worry, he says and continues:
– We know that when residents share a bathroom, the risk of contagion is greater.
The only resident who tested positive gave only a mildly positive rapid test result. The person has no symptoms.
None of the other residents have tested positive on rapid tests. But they still have to wait for the results of ordinary tests.
– We don’t know the final answer until tomorrow night. We have had no more positive rapid tests. But the situation is still unclear, says Sviggum.
Closed for visits
The nursing home is now taking steps to further protect residents.
– What we have done today is that we have closed the asylum for visits. It will be closed until we have control of the infection, says Sviggum.
Many of the residents in the home are insane, which also creates challenges.
– As far as possible, residents are in their own rooms. There are challenges associated with it, as there are people suffering from dementia who do not understand the situation. We have also divided the departments into cohorts so that they all relate to their areas.
– How is the mood now?
– We are worried, but now we are crossing our fingers that this goes well, concludes Sviggum.
