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MAJOR OUTBREAKS: 11 residents and 10 employees tested positive at the Moen nursing home in Elverum in less than a week. Photo: municipality of Elverum
Not all routes of infection have been detected and several cases of infection in the nursing home cannot be ruled out, which has now been hit hard by a corona outbreak in Elverum.
On December 22, six days after a Moen nursing home employee was first infected, the status is that 11 patients and ten employees in the same nursing home room have confirmed a corona infection.
There are three more than on Monday.
According to the municipal chief doctor Knut R. Skulberg, it is likely that the first employee was infected in another part of Norway with a further spread of the infection.
All patients and all staff with whom the first infected staff had come into contact were screened with rapid tests on Friday and followed up with tests every three days from now.
– When we look at the pattern of infection and symptoms in patients and staff and which staff have cared for them, it is likely that there is a route of infection until we have found it yet, he says.
THE FEAR: The nursing home outbreak was the fear of municipal chief physician Knut R. Skulberg in Elverum, but now the municipality is doing everything it can to prevent further spread. Photo: Private
– Are you in control?
– We deploy the crew we have to gain control. But as it is now, we cannot rule out that there will be more cases of infection, although we have many measures that we know will further reduce or prevent infection.
The following graph shows the infection recorded in Elverum during the pandemic:
The largest outbreak in the municipality since the beginning of the pandemic
The infected residents belong to the same ward and are now isolated in a separate part of the nursing home. Closed fire doors separate them from the rest of the residents, and employees have their own changing rooms and laundry rooms.
The equipment for the supply of oxygen is ready if someone has a severe course of the disease and it is necessary.
– This is the worst thing we feared would happen. I think of infected patients and relatives. We must provide proper medical care, while doing everything we can to prevent further infections in the rest of the Moen nursing home, says the municipal chief.
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He points out that the municipality in previous outbreaks during the pandemic has managed to gain rapid control through the use of the TISK strategy, and that it is now its main weapon as well.
– But for us, this is the worst outbreak, and the most important thing is that it is a group of people where coronary heart disease can have very serious consequences. In number, it is also the largest outbreak, Skulberg says.
Aino Kristiansen, Sector Manager for Nursing, Rehabilitation and Care in Elverum Municipality, thinks of everyone who is now affected by the outbreak.
– This is what we feared the most. Of course, I am very sorry and concerned about the situation. I think mainly of the patients, their friends and family. But this is also difficult for employees.
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Borrow staff from other institutions
To ensure sufficient staffing in the worst-hit nursing home, several measures have been taken. 24 nursing home employees are in quarantine as a result of infection or because they are close contacts.
Employees only work in one of the two wards of the nursing home. In addition, additional personnel have been brought in from other institutions in the municipality and are now on loan. These will only work on Moen as long as there are buds.
The municipal chief physician, Skulberg, says they have had good routines to avoid cross-work and interdepartmental work, and that has rarely happened. There has also been a good record of where people work.
– The nursing and care sector in the municipality has been very skilled in infection control work. I think that’s basically the reason why we’ve had few outbreaks and managed to stop this sooner. But this time we couldn’t stop it. And now we’re in the middle of that, says Skulberg.
I think more local infection has spread from Oslo
When VG asks if you think the outbreak could have been prevented with other measures or guidelines, the municipal supervisor responds:
“We are experiencing significantly higher infection pressure in society here now than in September, and we believe this has a clear connection to the infection in Oslo,” he says.
He points out the displacements and that the infection in Oslo spreads to surrounding neighboring municipalities and again inland. Several of the outbreaks in the municipality can be traced back to Oslo or the surrounding municipalities.
The graph below shows the infection recorded throughout Innlandet County during the pandemic, with the infection increasing significantly in November and December:
Other inland municipalities that have experienced a lot of infection in the last 14 days include Lillehammer, Ringsaker, Sør-Fron, Stange and Hamar. The Interior is also the county with the largest share positive tests, after Oslo and Viken, according to FHI’s weekly report.
In the last few weeks, we have seen that Innlandet is the county that has had an increase in infected people. I cannot say for sure, but if there had been stricter measures in society at the national level, it is possible that we would not have been in the situation we are in now.
