Coronavirus outbreaks in Amersfoort nursing home, Eindhoven hospital

Both the Catharina Hospital in Eindhoven and the Saint Elisabeth Care- and Guesthouse in Amersfoort reported an outbreak of the coronavirus among their patients and residents on Monday, NOS reports.

At the cardiothoracic surgical department in the Catharina Hospital, 13 heart patients tested positive for the B117 coronavirus variant, including five who passed away recently. Two of them died due to a mix of complications from the coronavirus and serious heart/lung operations. The coronavirus did not play a role in the death of the other three patients, the hospital states on their website.

“This outbreak proves how unpredictable and infectious the British variant of the coronavirus is. Despite protection gear and hand hygiene, the virus spread rapidly”, president of the commissioners' board Nardo van der Meer said in a statement on the hospital's website.

The hospital increased its protective measures against the coronavirus and tested all patients and care workers.

At the Saint Elisabeth nursing home in Amersfoort, 70 out of 106 residents tested positive for the coronavirus. The outbreak began last week. For now, the infection rate among staff has been limited, meaning care has been able to continue without much disturbance.

At the center, many residents suffer from dementia or another psycho-geriatric illness. These conditions can cause the person affected to wander around often and creates more opportunities for the virus to spread.

Vaccination had only recently begun at the center on January 30.