Because of the vulnerability of the elderly, the Ehpad strengthen their precautionary measures every day "to block the entry of the coronavirus" and their representatives will be received on Tuesday at the Ministry of Health to discuss the protocol to be followed in case of contamination .
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In a Parisian residence, the relatives of the hundred elderly people who are welcomed there have received three information notes since Friday, each day a little more restrictive on the conditions of visit. Since Sunday, visitors must accept a frontal temperature measurement and are refused access in case of fever. They have the obligation to rub their hands with a hydro-alcoholic gel at the entrance, to wear a surgical mask in case of cough, to sign the entry and exit register.
Visiting hours are limited. They are asked not to kiss their loved one, or to shake their hand, as well as not to take them outside the establishment. And more generally to "check by phone that visits are still authorized" .
These “barrier measures” are generalized in the 7000 establishments welcoming elderly people because “the challenge is to block the entry of the virus at the nursing home” , summarizes Florence Arnaiz-Maumé, general delegate of the National Syndicate of establishments and residences Private for elderly people (Synerpa). "The average age there is over 85 years, the consequences could be dramatic," she said. According to the latest study published on February 17 by Chinese authorities, people over the age of 80 are most at risk with a death rate of 14.8%.
The Ehpad (accommodation establishments for dependent elderly people) are used to managing infectious diseases, confronted each year with the classic flu which is for the moment "far more impactful" with its thousands of deaths, recalls Pascal Champvert, President of AD-PA, association of directors of retirement homes and home support structures. "For the moment there is no need to be alarmist, the government and the state are doing things well , " judges Pascal Champvert.
