Cape Town-based care home, Nazareth House, is coming under increased scrutiny from worried family members, after recording four cases of COVID-19 among residents, and 11 among staff.

In addition, one resident, who was terminally ill and passed away, also tested positive for the virus.

Nazareth House has two properties in Vredehoek, and one of those properties, The Villa, has been the hardest hit.

A letter was sent last week to family members of residents, signed by CEO Wayne Devy, stressing that “isolation and deep cleaning of the facility” are taking place

At the same time, the letter acknowledged that “challenges in obtaining the necessary swabs for testing, delays in testing, and a delay in receiving results has been experienced”.

Family members of residents are worried, as News24 reports:

A distraught family member of one of the residents, who lives abroad, contacted News24 to say she is extremely worried about her father, a former advocate by trade, who lives at the Main House…

Unable to travel to Cape Town herself, due to the international travel restrictions, she said that when she called the facility for answers on how it was possible to have so many cases there, they simply put the phone down on her.

“What procedures did they follow when they did the lockdown?” she asked, in tears, over the phone.

She wanted to know if staff members were properly screened, and whether anybody else was allowed into the facility.

“My father is going to [possibly] die because some woman, who wasn’t protected at Nazareth House, has come and given him his food or given him his pills or bathed him,” she said angrily. Her father does not have the virus…

She said her father is a strong person, but he also has the potential comorbidities associated with those who find it more difficult to recover from Covid-19 – diabetes, heart, and lung problems.

The letter sent to family members, dated May 8, said that in excess of 100 staff and residents had been tested, although 60 staff members had not yet been tested.

CEO Devy said Nazareth House was taking action to ensure the spread of the virus was curbed, including:

– They were tracing those who had come into contact with the resident who died last Tuesday.

– All family and staff members had been informed.

– All staff members at the Main House would be screened and tested, and then immediately sent into quarantine.

The letter also added that Nazareth House is working with the Departments of Health and Social Development, and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NCID), to ensure best practice is followed.

Reports from the UK state that deaths in care homes made up 40% of the overall number of coronavirus fatalities across England and Wales in the final week of April.

Thankfully, those numbers did drop in the week that followed.

[source:news24]