In a retirement home (illustration) -

DURAND FLORENCE / SIPA

Two officials from a Spanish retirement home are being prosecuted for their role in the death of a resident with Covid-19, the Madrid region prosecutor's office announced on Tuesday.

The director of the establishment and a doctor are accused of "involuntary manslaughter by recklessness and denial of health assistance", for one, and "non-assistance to a person in danger", for the other, said the prosecution in a statement.

Eight days before calling the hospital

This is the first case of a lawsuit filed on this grounds in the Madrid region, and it could possibly even be the first in Spain.

The two officials "did not respect the protocol provided for patients with Covid-19", thus causing the death of an octogenarian who arrived a few days earlier in the retirement home, says the prosecution.

The doctor reportedly took "eight days" to call the hospital about the woman, who had breathing problems, despite her worsening condition.

The patient died of cardiac arrest the day after her admission to hospital.

The director of the retirement home "was aware of the patient's clinical situation, (but) did nothing" so that she could receive care during the doctor's absences, in particular the weekend before her. dead, says the prosecution.

An "alarming" situation in Spanish retirement homes

In a devastating report published in early December, Amnesty International said the situation in retirement homes in the Madrid region and in Catalonia (northeast) remained "alarming", despite some improvements.

The “vast majority” of residents were not taken care of properly during the pandemic, denounced the NGO.

The pandemic has caused more than 48,000 deaths in Spain, for more than 1.7 million official cases, one of the worst tolls in Europe.

About half of the deaths are from residents of nursing homes, according to Amnesty.

At the height of the first wave, in March, soldiers sent to reinforce them had discovered elderly people abandoned by staff in their establishment and, in some cases, dead in their beds.

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