Prevention against Coronavirus in nursing homes and other residential centers

The Ministry of Health has published on March 24 the document: "Prevention and control guide against Covid-19 in nursing homes and other residential social service centers".

Residents and workers of nursing homes and other residential centers are in a situation of vulnerability to COVID-19 infection and are one of the groups most affected by the health emergency we are experiencing. These people present underlying pathology or comorbidities, are usually elderly, have close contact with other people, their caregivers and other cohabitants, and lastly, they tend to spend a lot of time in closed environments and with an equally vulnerable population.

The key aspects to highlight in the document are:

• Section 6 of the guide contains the general measures aimed at protecting the health of workers in this type of centres.
• Socio-health centers must have contingency plans adapted to the characteristics of each center and aimed at prevention and response to the eventual appearance of cases and outbreaks of COVID-19.
• If a positive case is detected, a separate area must be designated in the center for residents with and without infection with the aim of reducing the risk of an outbreak being generated in the residence and studying and monitoring their close contacts.
• In the current scenario, all visits to these places must be suspended, all exits from the residence and, with exceptions, for unavoidable wandering, common areas must be closed.

Like the rest of the documents that the health authorities are publishing these days, all the measures included in the text are under continuous review and will be modified if the epidemiological situation requires it.

In Fraternidad-Muprespa we continue we work to reduce the accident rate of our mutual members and disseminate a culture of prevention and health promotion, for For this reason, we encourage you to discover our web portal dedicated to the prevention of occupational risks and the development of a culture of health Previene where you can find interesting informative material with entertaining and specialized content. Great support to help you in the work of informing and raising awareness among your workers with news, brochures, infographics, videos or manuals of good practices related to safety and health at work.