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2020/12/19 15:51 Portuguese Air Force nurse Nuno Carvalho hosts an online COVID-19 Q&A session with care home staff, from an office at the armed forces chiefs of staff. Portuguese Air Force nurse Nuno Carvalho hosts an online COVID-19 Q&A session with care home staff, from an office at the armed forces chiefs of staff headquarters in Lisbon, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. As a resurgence of the pandemic in the fall looked set to overwhelm Portuguese care homes, the government mobilized all the resources it could. That included deploying military units. (AP Photo/Armando Franca) A resident, left, tells another one, background right, to wear his face mask properly covering the nose at the care home where they live, in Amadora, .
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Portugal Govt Sends Military To Help In Care Homes
The Portuguese government are deploying military units with the mission to fan out across the country and visit hundreds of care homes for the elderly and help shore up their defences against the pandemic.
The Portuguese government are deploying military units with the mission to fan out across the country and visit hundreds of care homes for the elderly and help shore up their defences against the pandemic. Long-term care facilities have proven vulnerable worldwide during the pandemic.
The age of their residents, their physical closeness inside what is essentially a large house, and the residents underlying health problems put them in peril. On top of that, staff in Portugal commonly work in several different care homes and travel between them on public transport.
December 19, 2020 Share
Tears well up in Diana Correia’s eyes as she recalls the October day that 24 of the 55 residents of her nursing home in Portugal tested positive for COVID-19.
The stunning discovery set off a scramble to enact the home’s contingency plan and stiffen safety procedures. With some staff sent into isolation, others worked double shifts of up to 16 hours in full protective equipment, leaving them lathered in sweat and bone-weary. Some of the home’s residents, suddenly confined to their rooms or their floor, were bewildered and chafed at restrictions, even trying to take the elevator and escape confinement.