The same causes for the same effects: with the worsening signs of a resumption of the coronavirus epidemic, accommodation establishments for dependent elderly people (Ehpad) are putting in place isolation measures. In Meurthe-et-Moselle, nearly a week after the containment of 84 elderly people due to the Covid-19 epidemic, the Pulnoy (Meurthe-et-Moselle) nursing home has made public the death of nine people elderly within it.
In Ile-de-France, the regional health agency (ARS) noted this Monday that the virus is actively circulating in 35 out of 700 establishments in the region. It recommends strengthening "as of now the preventive measures and support for residents in medico-social establishments in the region, and more particularly in nursing homes".
To anticipate, a new protocol was therefore sent last week to establishments: "From the first confirmed case, all professionals, volunteers and residents will have to be tested, in order to contain the circulation of the virus", notes the ARS. , adding that "in the establishments directly concerned by cases of Covid-19, additional measures must be adopted, in particular concerning admissions and visits".
"Morale is at zero"
For the elderly living in these retirement homes, the fear of a return to the situation of March looms. And, in some establishments, such as Huguette Valsecchi and Anselme Payen - both located in the 15th arrondissement of Paris - the measures have been reinforced, respectively since August 12 and July 31. Their director confirms that the two establishments are subject to containment measures. Residents have been infected, and caregivers have also reportedly tested positive.
In Valsecchi, the elderly are now only allowed one outing a day in the garden, but many prefer to stay in their rooms for fear of meeting another patient who has contracted the virus. "It's TV from morning to night," describes Patricia. Sabrina, her daughter, is extremely worried: according to her, "Covid residents can wander as they see fit in the establishment and spread the virus". “We must sort and isolate sick patients, unfortunately this is not the case,” she regrets.
The hardest part, however, is isolation. Until further notice, the family is no longer allowed to visit residents. "I saw it very badly, morale is at zero. I am exhausted and I cry every day, ”adds the retiree. "We should be allowed to live a little."
"We advance from crisis to crisis"
As for Myriam, whose 87-year-old mother lives at the Amaraggi residence (in the 19th arrondissement of Paris), also affected by the virus, she expresses the same feeling: “It is becoming inhuman. Visits are again by appointment, only once a week and for forty-five minutes. It's very hard. "
The consequences of isolation seem more serious to him than the virus itself. “The residents have the feeling that the family is abandoning them and allowing themselves to die,” she laments. "Isolation has a heavy impact on the mental and physical state of patients," says Romain Gizolme, director of AD-PA, the Association of Directors at the service of the elderly.
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“We have no information, no one comes to see us to tell us what's going on,” Patricia still describes. Could this lack of communication find its source in structural problems? "The sector is still very poorly endowed", notes Romain Gizolme. “We only have half the staff we ask for. In August, after the coronavirus, the hot weather and the virus again, we advance from crisis to crisis. "
Florence Arnaiz-Maumé, general delegate of the national union of establishments and residences for the elderly (Synerpa), wants to be much more reassuring. “Of course, the virus is still circulating, but we are not on alert,” she explains, stressing the progress made by nursing homes. As soon as a doubt arises, an establishment can now initiate a testing of all or part of the residents and employees in and obtain the results in three days, ”she says.
"After the marathon, a short cross-country race"
According to the general delegate of the union, which federates 1,800 establishments in France, the situation of nursing homes today has nothing to do with that known at the beginning of the year. On the personal side, there is "no strain or shortage on the equipment".
As for the establishments it represents, they “recalibrate the measurements themselves” according to the health situation. A handful of nursing homes thus "decided to put in place the visits only outdoors, for 15 days", in August, she identifies. Restrictions on the card, when retirement homes simply do not comply with the recommendations of the State. "The ARS of Ile-de-France suspended visits for minors a fortnight ago," continues Florence Arnaiz-Maumé.
“We cannot relive what we experienced at the start of the crisis. No masks, no protocol: we were devastated. The situation today is as if, after a marathon, we were offered a short long-distance race ”, relativizes the general delegate of Synerpa.
According to the latest count from the Directorate General of Health (DGS), 10,505 deaths have occurred in social and medico-social establishments, such as nursing homes, since the start of the Covid-19 epidemic.
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