The Independent reports 75 infected with Covid after Santa Claus visits nursing home in Belgium.
The visitor was reportedly among the first to test positive shortly after appearing at the Hemelrijck home in Mol in a bid to cheer up its 169 residents.
The mayor and Brussels Times alleged that care home management had initially said social distancing rules had been followed during the visit, with the man – reported to be a son of a resident – remaining a safe distance from residents and wearing a mask at all times.
“Initially they said that the rules had been followed, but then straight away you receive photos from the families of residents where you can see that this wasn’t the case,” Mr Caeyers said.
VRT reported that in photographs of the event, the visitors were wearing masks, but care home residents were not.
“We received incorrect information from the management,” the municipality told Brussels Times. “We deeply regret that. After looking at several photos, we have to conclude that this goes much further than an error of judgement. Rather, this is a case of totally irresponsible management.”
Irresponsible Management
In the US there would certainly be lawsuits over this Santa Claus incident.
We need to think carefully about the blanket indemnifications Republicans seek.
Mish
Ivermectin prevented the spread of Covid in a nursing home in France.
The nursing home was being treated with Ivermectin for an outbreak of scabies. One resident contracted Covid, but no one else.
I would be all for indemnification IF a non-politicized CDC or a respected science advisory panel published recommendations for different industries and occupations, the employer followed them to the best of their ability, and the employer provided some flexibility to the employees. Just giving someone blanket immunity is asking for irresponsible behavior just like what happened in Belgium.
The maddening thing about this whole covid thing is that we are ruining the lives of millions that are at virtually no risk, but still can’t seem to protect the vulnerable. The only way to protect them is the sanatorium model they used with TBC: All staff and any visitors have to be sero-converted, or reside on campus after testing negative (no matter how much it costs to attract people). Once the virus has circulated in the rest of the population, you can open up again. Anything short of such rigorous measures means you will sooner or later sacrifice these people — viruses do not respond to good intentions and effort.
And give them all Ivermectin like they do in Africa and India for god’s sake, where they have less than 1/10 the death toll.
Wasn’t Santa Claus. He doesn’t come until Dec 25.
This was St. Nicholas, also known as Sinterklaas, who come the 5th of December.
He doesn’t hail from the north pole but from Spain, and uses a steamship and white horses to travel, not reindeer and sleighs. Bad children are taken back to Spain in a burlap bag. He is a different guy altogether!
He was originally Bishop of Myra in Asia Minor, now known as Turkey. He used to throw money into the houses of poor people so they didn’t need to sell their daughters into prostitution.
If you want to make a claim, you probably need to go either to the Vatican or to Sultan Erdoğan.
“We need to think carefully about the blanket indemnifications Republicans seek.”
Nursing homes and Covid brings Cuomo to mind along with his refusal to admit the deadly results of his policy of sending sick patients back to retirement homes. He has indemnified himself!
That’s one of the greatest reasons I will not take the vaccine. Nobody is held accountable for mistakes. The best things for me to do are minimize shopping trips, wear a mask, and social distance.
speaking of Santa: link to youtube.com
A quick look at the way nursing homes get funded is warranted. Medicare pays okay, but Medicaid patients are a losing proposition. The more a facility depends on Medicaid, the less likely it is to offer great care. That seems to be one takeaway.
Profit margins are reported to be around 4% for for-profit nursing homes
That’s a very sad story. I’m sure whoever was playing Santa had the best of intentions…..but these are dangerous times that call for careful assessment of risks, and for good protocols.
Elder care homes are a fact of life……I have hard time seeing how our society could get by without them…..but if many of them were sued into bankruptcy it might put a hitch in the whole system.
Obviously homes have a responsibility to protect their residents….but they can’t prevent COVID completely…or at least it isn’t easy. I’m not sure how much protection the government should give them from lawsuits…..but it shouldn’t be easy to sue.
And it doesn’t make sense to sue some nursing home because some ninety-year-old dies from COVID….it’s a given that such individuals are near the end of life…..that’s why they’re there.
These elder care facilities….every town has them…the business model is mostly based on the resident being a ward of the state and all their social security and pension benefits going to the facility. They get to keep maybe $100/month for incidentals…..this just happened to an unfortunate friend of mine who became completely disabled (he has no family).
The facilities hire the bottom of the barrel for staff. Lots of turn-over. Other businesses (home health) provide visits by CNA’s with slightly better training and pay…..but they are mobile workers who visit multiple facilities a day in normal times.
I have a friend who does that work….she is a special kind of angel if you ask me…but it’s a high risk job…..she gets tested weekly.
It’s a sad business, elder care. Not much incentive for high quality care…just the reverse….they less the homes spend on the elders, the better their bottom line. I don’t know what the margins are in the nursing home biz. Anybody know?
In your, lawyers poisened american society, many C19 lawsuits will be filed in the coming months and years…. no doubt about it ! In Belgium,I think and hope, we still got some common sense left…
My 68 year old brother, whom I always looked up to in life and had a reputation for being street smart and a voice of reason for others, has been caught up in the Trump cult and being unrecognizable in his views, like many other mentors I have been shocked about. Of course, he affirmed in general that COVID was a Democratic hoax and overblown, and fought attempts to wear masks and other restrictions in his Facebook posts, as I understood them.
Well, I found out a week ago that my brother, who was a picture of manliness and vitality far younger than his years, finally agreed to go to the hospital after refusing to accept he had COVID, and promptly put into ICU. While gasping for air in the hospital, he was still posting on Facebook for others in his state to resist quarantines and other restrictions, like a person sneaking a cigarette while on oxygen with emphysema. The next day (last Tuesday) they determined that 100% oxygen was not cutting it, and they put him on a ventilator. He has been up and down since then, fighting the invasive tube when his sedation wears off, lying face down, and is still on it, and with a feeding tube. I was told that he attended a large family gathering while knowing he was sick. Since that time his ex-wife is in the hospital with it, her husband and his ex-mother in law have it, both his daughters and their husbands, and some of the grandchildren, who were all there as I understand.
I say all this not to disparage my dear brother, and much or all of this is already on family Facebook postings, but I share this to (a) ask for prayer for my brother and other family members, and (b) as a warning to try to encourage others to not be arrogant and make these mistakes to avoid hurting ourselves and our loved ones if at all practicable, with the goal of trying to save others’ lives here.
Sorry to hear about your brother. I hope he gets well soon. Maybe posts like yours will help somebody who otherwise might fail to take precautions….the virus can get anybody….no hoax…just a nasty virus…..it’s a roll of the dice, basically, if you become infected. Being in a lower risk group is no guarantee of survival.
Hope your brother pulls through. Over on r/QAnonCasualties there are many stories like this. The year 2020 seems to have driven many people mad.
We stopped by to inquire about a friend who was in a hospital for 5 weeks with covid and got out 3 weeks ago and is still on respiratory therapy.
He was still talking about a “phony pandemic”.
Wish your brother all the best.
Thanks, all you friends (whom I see almost every day here, from all over the globe).
The facility may have been following rules but residents can’t be forced to wear masks. Also, residents with dementia/Alzheimer’s complicate the situation.
what? a ‘mask enthusiast’? Bub, look on the internet for a 1981 study out of the University of Cambridge Hospital, Great Briton, on mask wearing.
Your reply makes no sense.
MISH ! I would delete you , if only I could …The audience here s gonna bash me, make fun of me again ! … Jokes apart, my poor old, dementia suffering mam, was found C19 positive three weeks ago, the only one among 25 residents and a rotating staff of 12, apart from refusing food, she didn t have serious symptoms and she s out of quarantaine now, saw her today, and I do realise that the end is near….Well, c est la vie , I guess … It s sad nevertheless…
My parents both 96 years old tested positive and never showed signs of the disease. Just be happy about it.
So 78 is not your year of birth then… Can t be…technically speaking…
No. It’s part of a zip code
Is Santa Claus that important to Belgians?
It is not your Santa Claus or Father Xmas, it is the 6th of december Sint Niklaas, Saint Nicolas, only celebrated in The Netherlands, Belgium, and the north of France…
Perhaps Santa contracted Covid from a staff member.
Oh yeah, just to show you how utterly stupid modern society has become : Sint Niklaas, throughout history has had a black servant, Zwarte Piet(black pete) in recent years, because of racial issues, Black Pete, can or should no longer be black…Go figure !
Sorry about your mom. I would assume that any comment making fun of someone’s ill elderly mother would be deleted in moderation, but I doubt many here would want to do that anyway.
That’s not normal human behavior, but because lots of crazies post on political social media we now have a dim view of humanity.
Thanks, I know people wouldn’ t do that ….I was just making a humourous reference to the fact that, occasionally I get criticized because of our many C19 deaths in Belgium…
Bummer! Would be an easy x-mas gig for a person that fits the description.
Guess another job opportunity that’s missed.
I wanted to put a spotlight on the indemnification issue so I made a second post out of Santa, removing the addition to my previous post.
indemnification issue ? Belgium is not a fckn, insane, attorneys driven society,(yet) like the US of A where people get paid millions for getting burned by a cup of coffee at some restaurant….
Mish my covid was treated as a workers comp case. That was in august also in ca. It seems ohsa has some guidelines on their website. Might be worth giving a look to compare with republican demands.