At least 19 senior citizens living in a nursing home in the City neighbourhood of Belgrano have been hospitalised after testing positive for the novel coronavirus.
The elderly Argentines were transferred to different hospitals and health centres on Tuesday, April 21 after being infected with Covid-19, as furious relatives criticised medical workers at the home and the establishment's owners.
With support from SAME emergency service ambulances, the individuals were transferred after hours of waiting, relatives told reporters.
The director of the home, Luis Megyes, was angrily criticised by relatives as he arrived late at night to take charge. Many family members had gathered at the doors to accompany their relatives during the transfer and they didn't hold back.
"There has been no-one here for 72 hours. No staff, no doctors. You're a liar. You have six clinics, put your face on," one unnamed man angrily shouted.
A lady shouted at him, "You've ruined us. We left the old people in your hands, Luis. You want to declare bankruptcy, you want to take your grandparents out on the street.”
Megyes responded that the retirement home had been unable to get sufficient medical support for the occupants.
"The problem was that we could not isolate every patient in a room, and we had been infected by the nurses and had no staff. We were desperate,” he said.
Investigation
"Yesterday [Monday] city health personnel went to the place and tested 23 occupants and four assistants, giving positive results for Covid-19 in six grandparents and one nurse," the police said in a statement.
"For this reason, the same day, two grandparents without symptoms were removed from the residence and 19 inmates and the four assistants were left inside," it added.
City government sources told Perfil that they conducted inspection procedures to see if closure was necessary and that police were evaluating whether criminal proceedings would be opened.
They are seeking to determine if workers from both the private and public sector had been negligent and failed to prevent the spread of Covid-19 among the elderly residents and workers at the facility, the source said.
Ambulances from the city's emergency service removed another group of elderly people Tuesday night.
As of Tuesday, more than 3,100 people in Argentina had been confirmed to have been infected by Covid-19, of whom 151 have died.
– TIMES/AFP/PERFIL
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