Residential care providers are under unprecedented pressure in face of the COVID-19 crisis. As densely populated centres of vulnerable and dependent residents, nursing or residential care facilities are high risk sites for transmission of the virus. A recent study by the International Long-Term Care Policy Network and London School of Economics (LSE) suggests that care home residents account for 42-57% of COVID-19 related deaths. Large care home organisations are struggling to manage the rising death toll in their facilities. England’s Chief Medical Officer Prof. Chris Whitty has said that the rate of infection in the UK’s care homes was now 13.5% and one in seven homes has the virus. Ensuring safe infection control and isolation practices in these centres is therefore essential.
The British Geriatrics Society has recently updated their guide “Managing the COVID-19 pandemic in care homes for older people” and warned of non-respiratory tract symptoms, including diarrhoea. Faecal transmission of COVID-19 is a serious risk in care homes. A recent study by The Lancet has revealed that faecal samples can test positive for COVID-19 for up to 33 days after respiratory swabs are negative (The Lancet).
Safe management of items such as bedpans and incontinence pads is therefore a key safeguarding consideration in residential homes. Best-practice disposal and cleaning procedures of devices such as bedpans and incontinence pads is therefore essential now more than ever. One-way systems are recognised as best-practice and used in over 95% of hospitals in the UK and are a simple way to improve infection control.
Contact us now for up-to-date and free information on the one-way process.
Further Reading
Care homes and the one-way process
COVID-19 and faecal-oral transmission
Lessons from King County Washington: COVID-19 in long-term nursing facilities
References
Comas-Herrera A and Zalakain J (2020) Mortality associated with COVID-19 outbreaks in care homes: early international evidence, 12 April 2020. Article in LTCcovid.org, International Long-Term Care Policy Network, CPEC-LSE.
Wu, Yongjian; Guo, Cheng; Tang, Lantian; Hong, Zhongsi; Zhou, Jianhui; Dong, Xin. “Prolonged presence of SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA in faecal samples”, The Lancet, March 19, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-1253(20)30083-2.
“COVID-19: Managing the COVID-19 pandemic in care homes for older people”. British Geriatrics Society. Published 30 March 2020, updated 14 April 2020. https://www.bgs.org.uk/resources/covid-19-managing-the-covid-19-pandemic-in-care-homes
Booth, Robert and Mason, Rowena. “Two of UK's largest care home providers report 521 coronavirus deaths.” The Guardian. 14 April 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/14/uk-care-home-providers-report-521-coronavirus-deaths
Booth, Robert. “Half of coronavirus deaths happen in care homes, data from EU suggests.” The Guardian. 13 April 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/13/half-of-coronavirus-deaths-happen-in-care-homes-data-from-eu-suggests
