N. Brabant nursing home loses 40 percent of patients in two wards

Over 40 percent of all residents living in two wards of the Mariënburght care center in the Noord-Brabant village of Budel have died as a result of Covid-19, local newspaper Eindhovens Dagblad found on Saturday.

In two separate wards in charge of caring for elderly people suffering from dementia, at least 12 of the 29 residents have died, sources told the newspaper, with funeral cars reportedly being sighted by residents on a frequent basis.

However, at present, it remains unconfirmed as to whether or not all of the deaths are attributable to Covid-19.

"I don't understand why there is no clear communication about this," the Eindhovens Dagblad reported, quoting an anonymous employee at Mariënburght. “The whole village is talking about it. People are also looking to me to find out how it is. But I can't say anything about it."

The newspaper said that according to other sources inside the facility, the severity of the outbreak at Mariënburght may have largely been mitigated had clearer rules been put in place.

"You cannot lock [dementia patients] up in their rooms. So they are brought to the common room every day. One person was still quite clear, he also understood the seriousness of the situation. If you had told him to stay in his room, maybe he would have been spared," they said.