COVID-19 Outbreak in Long-Term Care Facility

The LTCF was an integrated care center with 154 single rooms for the elderly with widely differing needs regarding care, ranging from residents with little need for assistance to people with dementia and those who required extensive care. All residents and staff members (including external workers) during the period of outbreak were included in the analysis. Cases included in the study were defined as those having received a positive PCR result for SARS-CoV-2 either from oro- or naso-pharyngeal swabs between 17 February 2021 and 23 March 2021. Subjects were tested either on the basis of having symptoms or in the context of monthly or reactive screening campaigns. Cases with a documented positive PCR result dating more than 60 days ago were considered to be reinfected. Additional data on residents and staff members were provided by the LTCF management.
The first cases were tested after developing symptoms and being present at the LTCF at the time of their pre-symptomatic infectious episode. Therefore, in addition to testing every symptomatic person and their contacts with a high risk of infection, a comprehensive testing of all staff members and residents was also organized on 23 February. In total, four comprehensive molecular screenings were performed during the outbreak. Two screenings were organized by the LTCF management on 23 February and 10 March, and two screenings were organized by the national LST program and took place on 1 March and 15 March 2021.