In recent days, the media has reported on several elderly individuals living in their own homes who, without having any social contact other than with home care personnel, have been affected by COVID-19.
In an article titled “Home Care – a Deadly Trap for the Elderly,” published on April 1, 2020, in Aftonbladet, it is stated that two elderly women in Stockholm, who live in their own homes, have been confirmed as infected. One of the women has passed away, while the other is still at home with a fever, receiving care from home care personnel. In both cases, home care was the only social contact the women had had for at least a week before falling ill.
“Since home care personnel do not use any protective equipment unless the person they are visiting is already sick, and since home care personnel visit many elderly individuals in a single day, an impossible, life-threatening situation is created,” writes Lena Einhorn, virolog and author.
In other words, it is highly likely that both women were infected by the healthcare personnel who assist them – and who daily help many others, some of whom are sick with COVID-19. Just as the elderly are at great risk when receiving home visits, healthcare personnel can also be affected by the virus.
Requesting home care personnel not to work if they have cold symptoms is not considered a sufficient precautionary measure. It should also be noted that coronavirus infection is often asymptomatic, particularly among younger individuals.
Studies highlight the fact that young individuals rarely show symptoms and clarify that transmission can occur even from asymptomatic carriers of the coronavirus (studies cited in my signed op-ed article “Corona can spread even without symptoms” in Aftonbladet on March 25, 2020).
On April 31, 2020, SVT Nyheter published an article titled “Several Cases of Corona within Elderly Care,” stating that several elderly individuals infected with the coronavirus were discovered in Nässjö municipality. All the infected individuals are older persons living in their own homes with the assistance of home care.
“We have had three to four confirmed cases in the last 24 hours,” says Mats Petersson, social services manager.
Inadequate protective equipment puts personnel at risk of spreading the new coronavirus among the elderly and the sick, and of becoming infected themselves. “I am concerned that healthcare personnel will become severely ill or that personnel will die; we are currently witnessing this in Italy,” says Erik Salaneck, infectious disease specialist at Akademiska sjukhuset in Uppsala, in an interview with SVT on March 26, 2020.
Personnel cannot protect themselves or the elderly. However, by implementing the right aids and tools offered by many small businesses, it is possible to prevent the spread of infection and prevent further loss of lives.
In Borlänge municipality, several elderly individuals in care homes, including Hessegården and Kungsljuset, as well as elderly individuals receiving home care, have become infected. One of them passed away on Wednesday.
“It is frightening. Previously, the infection had been at a distance. Now, it is surrounding us,” says Ulrica Green, a home care nurse in Borlänge and union representative for Kommunal, in an interview with Aftonbladet.
In an article titled “Insufficient Protection for the Most Vulnerable: Personnel Infected – Elderly Die,” published in Aftonbladet on March 27, 2020, the unsustainable “personnel carousel” within home care is criticized, along with its increased danger during a pandemic, such as theone we are currently facing. In 2007, an elderly individual receiving home care had contact with twelve different personnel members over a span of two weeks. By 2019, this number had risen to sixteen people, representing a 33 percent increase. Municipalities have been slow to implement digital tools to alleviate the workload on healthcare personnel, resulting in high staff turnover. This is life-threatening for the elderly, especially during a pandemic.
References
Home Care – a Deadly Trap for the Elderly
Several Cases of Corona within Elderly Care
Insufficient Protection for the Most Vulnerable: Personnel Infected – Elderly Die