The highly contagious Norovirus has broken out in nursing home De Kiekendief in Almere Stad. Five residents have become infected. Four of them live in the same department, which has now been closed off to prevent further spread. That says Frederique Mensink of Zorggroep Almere, of which De Kiekendief is part. The Norovirus causes complaints such as vomiting and diarrhea.
Mensink says that the family and residents of De Kiekendief receive additional information about the outbreak via a letter. “We want to protect our residents as much as possible and also give infected residents urgent advice to stay in their department. We also bring the food to the room instead of the dining room. In this way we hope to isolate the virus as soon as possible.”
Visitors are also informed by the letter. “We ask visitors to leave as soon as possible afterwards and not to enter another department or coffee area.”
Guidelines
Mensink explains that employees are all given extra guidelines that they must follow to prevent further contamination. “In the event of an outbreak of this virus, there are specific hygiene protocols that are strictly followed. For example, the employees have to wash their hands even more often and we clean the toilets several times a day.”
Not special
104 people live in De Kiekendief and according to Mensink it is not unusual that the Norovirus breaks out here. “The virus breaks out more often in nursing homes. The elderly generally have a reduced resistance and in a nursing home they often have joint activities, where such a virus can spread more easily.”
She explains that almost all nursing homes have to deal with this. “People live together in a living room. Contamination can then take place earlier.” Nevertheless, Mensink hopes that the virus will not infect more people. “Hopefully it stays here. The flu usually disappears after two to three days, but it is of course annoying.”
This story was created by Engeline Keizer. For 1Almere she focuses on stories from Almere. 1Almere and Omroep Flevoland have a partnership.
2023-07-25 15:17:58
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