Enlarge image
The accused next to her lawyer Velit Tümenci: "Unfortunately, death is an everyday companion in a nursing home."
Photo: Julian Stratenschulte / dpa
In Hildesheim, a 46-year-old employee of a nursing home is on trial at the end of 2021 because of a corona outbreak with three deaths.
The public prosecutor is convinced that the woman set this chain of infection in motion – she worked with a fake vaccination card in the senior citizens' facility.
The woman, who claims not to have known at the time of the infection that she had been infected with Corona, is accused of negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and forgery of documents.
She is said to have faked a double vaccination against Covid-19 by presenting a fake vaccination card.
According to the indictment, the employee infected a colleague in the home during a coffee break at the end of November 2021.
A total of five employees and eleven residents became infected in the following days and weeks.
Three women aged 80, 85 and 93 died.
The forensic examinations showed that Covid-19 was the cause of death in the 80-year-old.
In the case of the other two, other causes cannot be ruled out; in these cases, the accused is charged with negligent bodily harm.
She was employed as an everyday companion, so she did not take on any nursing work.
Documents destroyed for privacy reasons
Defense attorney Velit Tümenci said his client would not provide any information on the matter.
However, the lawyer presented a personal statement from the defendants.
In it, the woman emphasizes that she is not a corona denier.
And: "My client had no contact with the deceased," said the defense attorney.
»Unfortunately, death is an everyday companion in a nursing home.« Read more about the case here: »The nurse came with a fake vaccination card – did she also bring the virus?
«
His client is currently unemployed and in psychological treatment.
The management of the home fired her without notice after she found out that her vaccination card was fake.
On the first day of the trial, the deputy director of the home, the director of the home and the colleague whom she is said to have infected were questioned as witnesses.
Among other things, it was about the question of whether others could have introduced the virus, for example visitors.
A negative rapid test was necessary for access to the home.
The director of the home estimated the number of visitors at around 150 within two weeks, the visits at the time of the outbreak were also documented, but the documents were destroyed as required for data protection reasons.
The facility has a total of around 75 employees and around 120 residents.
The investigators had the PCR swabs of the deceased residents, the suspects and their partner who had died of Covid-19 examined more closely.
According to the public prosecutor's office in July, a connected chain of infection can be suspected.
However, the accused's sample was accidentally destroyed in the laboratory.
Worked undetected infected for three days
After consultation with the deputy director of the home, the accused came to work on the last weekend of November 2021 despite her son’s corona infection.
As she was not vaccinated, she should have been isolated at home, but the employer assumed she was vaccinated.
That's why she was allowed to come with a negative rapid test.
According to the witness, she had always worn an FFP2 mask.
The accused is said to have worked unnoticed for three days, after which she called in sick.
On Friday of the same week, the colleague with whom she had had coffee the previous Monday noticed symptoms of a cold.
He still went to work because he sometimes had a cold in the morning, the witness said, and his quick test in the morning was negative.
Because his condition deteriorated, he canceled his shift.
When drinking coffee in the break before his infection, he kept his distance from the accused, said the 39-year-old in the courtroom.
He later did not suspect that this colleague had infected him.
»I had so many contacts with other people there.
She was just one of many,” said the everyday companion.
He was deployed to the ward where the Corona outbreak occurred.
When asked about the three dead, the witness said he remembered bringing breakfast to one of them in bed.
The falsification of the defendant's vaccination card only came to light because she had called her superior in tears and reported that her partner had come to the hospital with Corona, that he was doing very badly and that she had to make the decision about life-prolonging measures.
"I persuaded her that he was young and vaccinated," said the 53-year-old witness.
After this conversation, she suspected for the first time that the employee had not been vaccinated and she did some research.
According to her defense attorney, the accused has now been vaccinated.
According to the court, a total of twelve witnesses and three experts have been invited to the trial.
On March 7th, among other things, doctors of the deceased elderly women should be heard.
A total of five days of negotiations are scheduled.
According to this plan, the verdict could be pronounced on March 21st.
apr/dpa