Virusexpressen looking for covid-19 in nursing homes in Skåne

A black Wolksvagen enters the parking lot for an elderly woman who lives in western Malmö. Dr. Sogand Sajjadi and Nurse Adifete Jahiri select a basket of sampling kits, mouth guards, protective clothing, visors, and gloves.

– Staff called and spoke about a patient with a cough and upper respiratory tract symptoms. Now we go in, do a test and take it to the emergency lab. In 24 hours we will know if it is covid-19, says Sogand Sajjadi.

She and her colleague are part of what has been internally called “Virus Express”. A sampling team, led by primary care in Skåne and which has been rolling down the Scanian roads since the end of March in search of suspicions of covid infection in the elderly care.

– It is a matter of catching up as soon as possible if someone is infected with covid so that staff can enter and isolate themselves and ensure that the infection does not spread to the rest of the accommodation. We definitely don’t want to end up in the Stockholm situation, says Marie Olsson, Assistant Manager for Primary Care in Malmö and central Skåne.

She is chief of operations A unique collaboration in Sweden between hospital care, primary care and the municipality that really started seven years ago. This means that the most frail and multi-ill older people do not have to seek medical care and receive home care.

With the corona center, the mobile care team, with nine cars and some twenty employees, received a new assignment. As soon as the staff of a particular residence, no matter where in the region you are and whether it is private or public, you can sound the alarms to the mobile care team.

– You notice concern among staff if someone shows symptoms and is reassured that we are coming. They get help right away and don’t have to think about what to do, says nurse Adifete Jahiri, and says the team samples up to ten patients a day.

According to the Public Health Authority, advanced age is the highest risk factor for becoming seriously ill in covid-19. Several Skåne municipalities left early with restrictions and bans on visiting elderly residents. It has been cited as one possible reason why across Skåne, just under ten percent of a total of 312 special homes received the coronavirus.

Fewer than 30 people reside Some of the region’s residents have died as a result of covid-19. In Gothenburg the figure is about 80, in Stockholm 700.

Overall, Skåne’s figures stand out compared to many other parts of Sweden. Previous forecasts pointed to an increase in the number of people infected in May. At the same time, the number of greedy intensive care patients has remained constant at around 20 for nearly a month, and several of the county’s smallest hospitals have now resumed planned operations.

Recently, the curve on the number of infected patients has risen somewhat, but things are going slowly, and according to infection protection doctors, there is currently no indication of a dramatic increase.

– In the number of cases, we are still low from a national perspective. But we cannot relax, but we have to keep up with our actions. The fact that it appears to be so is because we have a high degree of compliance with the proposed measures, Skåne Region infection prevention physician Eva Melander said at a press conference on Thursday.

Why crowded? Skåne with its 1.4 million inhabitants is so low in the spread of infection that it can have several different causes.

– The fact that we already had sports vacations in week 8 may have been important. And that the Scouts stopped traveling from Kastrup. As we look for other regions, the time has also come to take protective measures. Now we keep our thumbs up every day so that development doesn’t change and go in the wrong direction, says Per-Erik Ebbeståhl, director of security for the city of Malmö.

Even from a Nordic perspective, the region stands out with fewer sick and dead people than, among others, Copenhagen and Zeeland, despite the fact that the Danish crown’s strategy has been more restrictive than the Swedish one with closed borders and the extinction of large sectors of society.

– It is an interesting question why you see this difference between Skåne and Denmark, since it is quite a big trip between them and that in some way it is a common region. One may wonder about the Danish strategy with a shutdown versus our spring when there are obviously fewer cases in Skåne, says Anders Wallensten, Deputy State Epidemiologist.

In an interview with Sydsvenskan Former Skåne region infection prevention doctor Hans-Bertil Hansson believes Skåne may have benefited from the Danish crown’s strategy.

“The decisions were primarily intended to protect Denmark from coronary infection, but since the spread of infection in the Copenhagen area was greater than here in Skåne, we have been protected from further spread,” he said.

Denmark is now beginning to open the partnership again. Anders Wallensten says that the consequences this may have for Skåne is too early to say anything yet.

– It depends on what happens, if there is a great spread of infection again. There should be some communication here between Skåne and Denmark, but it hasn’t been until now.

If cooperation between Skåne and Denmark fails, it works best between the Skåne Region and the City of Malmö. Here, the “Virusexpressen” mobile care team has now been complemented by new efforts for the weaker and sicker elderly. Just over a week ago, the Covid team began caring for people with home care who show symptoms or have confirmed an infection.

– The idea of ​​the greedy team went from reflection to workshop in fourteen days. We are simply changing and things are going fast because we have good cooperation with the region, ”says Elina Opasiak, from the Health and Care Administration in the city of Malmö.

The city of Malmö has also been emptied one of their short-term accommodations. This includes all patients who have been hospitalized for covid-19 and who have short-term needs, or patients living in special housing.

– If there is no infection in the special accommodation, the patient should not return there until they have had 48 hours without symptoms. There will be a short-term home stopover before the patient can move home, says Elina Opasiak.

In Malmö nursing homes, there are currently around 30 people infected, out of a total of 2,000 people in special housing and 10,000 with home care.

Physician Sogand Sajjadi in the mobile care team believes that care should be free with sampling in this situation.

– Both to reduce the spread of infection and to curb residents’ discomfort. For us, this is a special work situation, it becomes very divisive. If I wasn’t scared of bacilli before covid-19, I definitely am now, she says.

It has happened to the staff Older residents have not been admitted to the Virus Express for reasons of infectious protection. Once they had to enter through the patient’s yard.

Sampling at the house in western Malmö takes a few minutes. Often it doesn’t take longer than that.

– We go in and turn around in our space suits, it can be quite scary for the patient. But we try to create security and joke to alleviate the serious situation in the short time we are there, says Sogand Sajjadi.

The small cotton swab to reveal whether the patient has been affected by the virus has sealed it on a sleeve. Before the end of the morning, they expect two more patient visits.