Irish Examiner view: Inquiry into Covid-19 deaths in nursing homes should be conducted

Despite our previous experience, we were ill-prepared for the impact the third wave of coronavirus had on our nursing homes

More than 2,000 nursing home residents in Ireland have died after contracting Covid-19. File picture: iStock

Frank O’Connell, a coroner who is looking into six Covid-related deaths at a Cork nursing home, is considering whether there is a legal basis to hold inquests into their deaths. 

Whatever conclusion he arrives at, he should be supported in his view that a wide-ranging inquiry into all Covid-19 deaths in nursing homes should be conducted.

The purpose of holding such an inquiry should not necessarily be to apportion blame to any group or individual, but to learn from mistakes of the past. 

From the very start of the pandemic, it quickly became clear that residents of nursing and care homes were particularly vulnerable.

A recent study on behalf of the Irish Society of Physicians in Geriatric Medicine shows that residents in nursing home care have borne disproportionate morbidity and mortality in the Covid-19 pandemic in comparison to the general population.

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The report, published in the Irish Medical Journal, makes a number of recommendations, including a wider range of residential options for older people apart from living at home or moving to residential care, as was highlighted in the Citizens' Assembly report on older people in December 2017.

The study is very revealing. “Although the high rate of infection, morbidity, and mortality in older people living in nursing homes may be attributable to increased levels of frailty and comorbidity in residents, the physical infrastructure and governance structures within nursing homes are also likely to be highly significant,” say the authors.

That may go some way to explaining why Covid-related deaths were still being reported in care homes almost a year after the pandemic arrived in Ireland. 

More than 2,000 nursing home residents in Ireland have died after contracting Covid-19 — 1,000 of them in the third wave of the pandemic in January. 

Ill-prepared

While it may be understandable that there would be considerable fatalities in care homes during the first and second waves, by the time the third wave arrived, it was clear that basic health measures such as frequent cleansing were effective in keeping it at bay. 

However, when the third wave of Covid-19 descended on Ireland in early January, we were ill-prepared for its ferocity or the speed of its progress. 

Over one seven-day period, the virus spread faster here than in any other country in the world.

Many of the deaths that followed occurred in nursing and residential care homes.

St Joseph’s Community Nursing Unit in Trim, Co Meath, experienced one of the most severe post-vaccination outbreaks of the disease during the third wave of the pandemic.

An outbreak of the disease was declared at the nursing home on January 20, with 25 residents at the 50-bed care facility testing positive for Covid-19. 

Nine residents died during the course of the outbreak, even though some of them had received their first vaccination against the virus.

That should serve as a warning to us all that we cannot afford to drop our guard. If we do, regardless of progress to date, we could be facing a fourth wave.