Minnesota nursing home report card

SINGAPORE: No visitors will be allowed at all nursing homes in Singapore for the month of April, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) on Wednesday (Apr 1). The joint statement came after MOH announced 10 more cases of COVID-19 at the Lee Ah Mooi Old Age Home, which reported one case on Tuesday. Caregivers will be given alternative ways to interact with nursing home residents, such as telephone and video calls, the authorities said. READ: Number of COVID-19 cases in Singapore reaches 1,000; old age home among 2 new clusters identified Other precautionary measures include safe distancing for all nursing home residents and a reminder that staff members who are unwell must not turn up for work. Nursing homes with more than 200 beds will also begin to implement split-zones. MOH and AIC said they have reiterated that nursing homes are to strictly adhere to advisories on COVID-19 precautionary measures and that they will continue to monitor … [Read more...] about Visitors barred from nursing homes until Apr 30 after COVID-19 cases detected in old age home

TOPEKA: A coronavirus outbreak has killed 10 residents in a nursing home in a northwestern Kansas county that proportionally already had the nation's largest increase in cases over two weeks. The health department in Norton County reported on Monday (Oct 20) night that all 62 residents and an unspecified number of employees at the Andbe Home in Norton had tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The agency also said one Andbe Home resident was hospitalised, while the remaining 51 were being treated at the home. “Steps are being taken to prevent any further outbreak, including quarantining residents in their rooms and not allowing outside visitors into the facility,” the county health department said in a statement Monday evening. The outbreak at the nursing home came after the state Department of Health and Environment last week reported more than 100 cases at the state's prison in Norton over the two weeks ending on Wednesday. Kansas is seeing an average of more than 700 … [Read more...] about 10 residents dead amid COVID-19 outbreak at Kansas nursing home

SEOUL: South Korea on Monday (Oct 19) began testing tens of thousands of employees of hospitals and nursing homes to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks at live-in facilities. Fifteen of the 76 latest cases reported by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency were from the southern port city of Busan, where more than 70 infections have been linked to a hospital for the elderly. The disease caused by the coronavirus can be more serious in older people and those with existing health conditions like high-blood pressure. Health workers have been scrambling to track infections in the Seoul metropolitan area, home to about half of the country’s 51 million people, as the virus spreads in a variety of places, including hospitals, churches, schools and workplaces. From Monday, they will start a process to test 130,000 workers at hospitals, nursing homes and senior centres in the greater capital area. Officials will also test 30,000 patients who have visited and used these facilities, … [Read more...] about South Korea increases hospital, nursing home tests for COVID-19

SEOUL: South Korea recorded its biggest increase in COVID-19 cases in more than 40 days on Friday (Oct 23) as more infections were reported at hospitals and nursing homes . A nursing home in Namyangju, east of Seoul, was put under isolation after more than 30 workers and residents tested positive. About 120 infections have been linked to a hospital in nearby Gwangju. The 155 new cases announced Friday by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency brought the national caseload to 25,698, including 455 deaths. READ: Translation tools, air purifiers: Face masks go high-tech The agency said 138 of the new cases were local transmissions, most of them reported from the greater capital area. At least 17 of the new cases were tied to international arrivals, including passengers coming from France, Kuwait, Nepal, Bangladesh and Japan. The steady spread of the virus has caused concern in a country that eased its social distancing restrictions just last week to cope with a … [Read more...] about South Korea COVID-19 cases rise in hospitals, nursing homes

The NHS risks an "exodus" of nurses after the pandemic abates if Rishi Sunak fails to offer a decent pay rise to staff, union bosses have warned. Nursing leaders said staff are "exhausted and morale is on the floor" after nearly a year of gruelling shifts battling coronavirus . The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) urged the Chancellor to use next week's Budget to boost central NHS funding for the explicit purpose of increasing staff pay levels - or risk staff shortages which could hit patient care. But they will have to wait beyond the Budget for actual news on a pay rise until pay review bodies report back later in the Spring. Treasury sources insisted the timing was laid out last year. Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour ’s Shadow Health Secretary, said: “Our NHS staff deserve a fair pay rise. If Rishi Sunak next week refuses it will be kick in the teeth to our brave hardworking NHS heroes.” NHS workers have been spared from the wider public sector pay freeze this April - but … [Read more...] about Nurses have to wait beyond Budget for pay rise news in ‘kick in the teeth’