DISMAL & DISASTROUS procedures at Spain’s care home lead to 200+ elderly residents testing positive for Covid-19

More than 200 elderly residents at a care home with 223 places in Valladolid are reported to have tested positive for coronavirus (Covid-19), according to local reports.

ONLY nine of the residents at La Residencia de Mayores Cardenal Marcelo actually tested negative for the disease. However, care workers at the residency are said to have only just received protective equipment on Sunday, shortly after the test results arrived. Until now the care workers were only given gloves and masks for protection.

Around 41 out of 137 residents at another care home in Valladolid also tested positive for the virus. The care workers at the Residencia de La Diputacion de Valladolid La Doctor Villacian, however, were actually surprised the results were not worse. Care workers at both homes complained to their union about the lack of isolation measures and protective equipment to prevent the spread of the virus. After investigating both homes, the worker’s union, Central Sindical Independiente y de Funcionarios (CSIF), described management practices to control Covid-19 at both homes as “dismal” and “disastrous.”

According to the care workers, the first positive Covid-19 case at La Residencia de Mayores Cardenal Marcelo was actually registered before the country’s lockdown. However, management refused to put in place isolation measures and continued to allow the use of communal areas by everyone, including those suspected to be infected by the disease. Although the director of this centre also caught the coronavirus, it’s reported that only his office was disinfected, although he had used other communal areas.

According to the union, the directors and management of both homes “have lied and falsified information despite Covid-19 warnings from staff.” The management refused to take preventative measures to protect residents and staff from Covid-19, which ultimately led to both residents and staff being heavily infected by the disease, including suspected death from coronavirus symptoms, which the homes have allegedly tried to cover up.