RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Two social events held at home for the elderly in the Bolivian city of Oruro triggered an outbreak of Covid-19 that has affected 77 of the 90 older adults living in the home, health authorities in the Andean region confirmed on Wednesday.
The events took place on August 26 and 28 at the Sagrada Familia home on the occasion of the Day of the Elderly without biosecurity measures, the director of the Departmental Health Service (Sedes) of Oruro, Juan Carlos Challapa, told the media.
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The first positive cases were identified as of August 30, and by the beginning of this week, he explained that 20 per day were reported.
“Given the circumstance of the incubation period, it is evident that the hypothesis reflects that the massive infection has developed on the dates I have mentioned,” he said.
Of the 90 elderly people living in that nursing home, so far, 77 “have a positive Covid-19 diagnosis”, said Waldo Rosso, head of Epidemiological Surveillance of Sedes de Oruro.
Twelve older adults have required hospitalization, of which six are in a “moderate to critical condition,” and another six “have a moderate diagnosis”, said Rosso.
“The others are in mild condition” and are receiving medical care in the same nursing home, he added.
When the outbreak began, Sedes already took measures such as sending health personnel and taking tests. The day before, the nuns who manage the asylum met with the nuns to take other joint actions, including fumigation of the place and restriction of visits and social events in the asylum.
Rosso pointed out that 73 older adults have already received a first dose of the anticovid vaccine. At the same time, the rest could not be immunized because they were suffering from a “respiratory pathological condition”.
The vaccination in the nursing home could be carried out in July because it was necessary to have prior authorization from the relatives of the elderly.
Challapa remarked that this case “is a vivid example of the negative side” of developing social activities that generate agglomerations and neglect biosafety. “Unfortunately, we are generating social activities both in urban and rural areas, and this is causing delicate health problems,” warned the director of Sedes.
Bolivia has accumulated 18,529 deaths and 493,518 confirmed cases of covid-19 since March 2020.