This is one of the many tragedies linked to the Covid-19 epidemic.
Three quarters (72.3%) of the 7,500 nursing homes in France had at least one resident infected with Covid-19 in 2020. More than three out of ten establishments (34.4%) have even experienced several episodes of contamination in 2020. Worse, one in five establishments (20%) faced a critical episode of the epidemic "during which at least 10 residents or 10% of all residents died", a study indicates this Friday. of the Drees.
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Among the some 600,000 residents of nursing homes, 38% were contaminated in total and 5% died, or 29,300 deaths recorded in an establishment or after a transfer to a hospital, details this study by the statistical department of social ministries. , which is based on reports from establishments to the platform set up by Public Health France.
15,000 deaths in each wave
As for the rest of the population, these structures welcoming vulnerable elderly people experienced two waves of contamination last year.
The first in the spring was concentrated in Île-de-France, Grand-Est and Hauts-de-France, where more than 55% of nursing homes reported a case among residents.
The second wave from September affected the whole of the territory more widely, causing twice as many contamination of residents as the first, it is detailed.
However, "the number of deaths is the same" - a little less than 15,000 people in each wave - specifies the Drees, explaining that this may be linked "to better detection of asymptomatic cases thanks to tests or better management of severe forms of the disease ”.
Vaccination, which began with nursing homes at the end of 2020, has since made it possible to "significantly reduce" the number of establishments affected by Covid-19. In January and February, some 4,700 residents died from the virus, then 600 between March and May, says Drees. In comparison, 14,700 residents died between March and July 1, 2020.