COVID-19: High Mortality Rates Linked To Care Homes

COVID-19 OUTBREAK
COVID-19: High Mortality Rates Linked To Care Homes
by
Niall McCarthy,

Apr 21, 2020
There is growing evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic is having a deadly impact on elderly residents at care homes around the world and a report released by academics at the London School of Economics claims that 60 percent of all coronavirus deaths in some countries may be linked to those facilities. Elderly residents in care homes are particularly vulnerable to the pandemic as they fall within the highest-risk age category while living in an environment where a virus can spread rapidly due to communal dining halls and shared rooms.

The research notes that international comparisons of COVID-19's impact on care homes are difficult to make, particularly as many countries do not track those specific cases and some of its figures are based on partial data. Nevertheless, the findings are both striking and alarming in the countries where data was available. In Norway, it is estimated that 64 percent of all deaths from COVID-19 are linked to care homes for the elderly. In Canada and Ireland, the share stands at 57 and 55 percent respectively.




Ook in de 14de eeuw tijdens de pestepidemie was dat het geval, zo stelt Barbara Tuchman in 'De waanzinnige 14de eeuw': 'In afgesloten ruimten zoals kloosters en gevangenissen betekende de besmetting van één persoon meestal besmetting van iedereen, zoals gebeurde in de franciscaner kloosters van Carcassonne en Marseille, waar zonder uitzondering iedere inwoner stierf. Van de honderdveertig dominicanen in Montpellier overleefden er slechts zeven. Petrarca's broer Gherardo, lid van een kartuizer kloosterorde, begroef de abt en vierendertig medebroeders één voor één, soms drie per dag, tot hij alleen met zijn hond overbleef.'