Control of a COVID-19 outbreak in a nursing home by general screening and cohort isolation in Germany, March to May 2020

• Published in: Euro surveillance : bulletin européen sur les maladies transmissibles 2021-01, Vol.26 (1), p.1
• Main Authors: Krone, Manuel, Noffz, Annette, Richter, Elisabeth, Vogel, Ulrich, Schwab, Michael
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; COVID-19; COVID-19 - diagnosis; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 - prevention & control; COVID-19 Testing; Disease control; Disease Outbreaks - prevention & control; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Germany - epidemiology; Homes for the Aged; Humans; Male; Medical screening; Nursing Homes; Outbreaks; Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; Pandemics; Quarantine; Retrospective Studies
• ISSN: 1560-7917; 1025-496X; 1560-7917
• DOI: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.1.2001365

Elderly care facilities have become a major focus of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) control. Here, we describe an outbreak of COVID-19 in a nursing home in Germany from 8 March to 4 May 2020 (58 days), and the effect of an intervention of general screening and cohort isolation. COVID-19 cases among residents and staff were recorded on a daily basis from the first positive SARS-CoV-2 test from a resident on 8 March 2020, until 4 May 2020 when the last staff member was classified COVID-19 negative. Eighty of 160 residents (50%) and 37 of 135 staff members (27%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Twenty-seven of the 80 residents were asymptomatic but tested positive during the first general screening. Cohort isolation of SARS-CoV-2 positive residents by reorganising the facility proved to be a major effort. After the intervention, four further asymptomatic residents tested positive in follow-up screenings within a period of 6 days, and were possibly infected prior to the intervention. Thereafter, no further infections were recorded among residents. The described outbreak was controlled by implementing general screening and rigorous cohort isolation, providing a blueprint for similar facilities.