Minister Melanie Huml wants to relax the ban on visits to nursing homes. Operators warn against taking steps too quickly. There is also sharp criticism from AWO and SPD.
- Loneliness is supposed to save lives. In order to protect the residents from the coronavirus * , visits to Bavaria's old people's and nursing homes are prohibited .
- Since being alone also leaves traces in the long run, Health Minister Melanie Huml (CSU) is examining how the rules can be relaxed.
- Home operators are skeptical about their plans.
Munich - Of course there is a great desire to see his relatives again, says Jürgen Salzhuber. However, the houses were "all sealed" to protect the residents. As chairman of the AWO district association in Munich, eleven homes with 1150 residents are in the responsibility of Salzhuber. "If only one infected person gets in there, the number of deaths increases considerably." Even "conditions like in Italy - with several hearses in front of the door", he considers possible. This is also due to the fact that the Free State has "no prevention strategy", says Salzhuber. "We already made the government aware in March that this was the most vulnerable group," added AWO Bayern Managing Director Andreas Czerny.
Corona Munich: Requirements for opening the homes to visitors
The AWO believes three prerequisites are necessary to open the homes to visitors and new residents.
First: Before the ban on visiting is relaxed, an adequate supply of protective gowns must be guaranteed.
Second: temperature measurements for employees and visitors are required.
Third, there must be enough capacity to test weekly in nursing homes.
1,300 tests per week would be necessary to always have clarity about new infections in the eleven Munich AWO houses alone. SPD health expert Ruth Waldmann sees that this is no longer happening, "an obvious failure of the crisis team and the Ministry of Health". The State Office for Health (LGL) finally reports that there is now free test capacity . "How can it be that they are not used where they are needed?" Asks Waldmann. That is clearly the task of the crisis team.
Coronavirus / homes: AWO in Munich complains about lack of protective clothing
The AWO is still complaining about the lack of protective clothing in the facilities. Almost nothing has been available since the beginning of March, confirms geriatric care advisor Maike Hessel. There is a particular lack of protective gowns. "Our hygiene expert has even dealt with how you could use cut-up rubbish bags as smocks," says Hessel. As early as April 23, the Munich AWO wrote a letter to Minister Huml in which she pointed out her need. So far, no answer has been received, says Salzhuber. The ministry told our newspaper that it was particularly difficult to obtain protective gowns.
Even privately owned homes could not get by with the protective equipment procured by the Free State alone, says Joachim Görtz, Managing Director of the Federal Association of Private Providers (bpa), when asked by our newspaper. However, you could order material on your own - even if that was actually the task of the Free State.
Görtz also shares the AWO's concern about possible early openings for visits. "The minister must remain careful." The bpa has developed its own protection concept and demands strict conditions for visits. Among other things, every visitor had to wear new mouth-nose protection - no everyday masks. For this, the Free State had to provide the facilities with special quotas. There must also be separate visiting rooms. In addition, the facilities would need 14 days' notice. And in the event of staff shortages, the facility management must have the last word.
* merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network. Find out everything about Corona here: For example, about entry requirements, research and mandatory masks.
Rubric list picture: © dpa
