The spread of the new coronavirus has also affected the site of home-visit nursing care.

At a home-visit care office in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, about 10 users were infected or became close contacts in the "seventh wave", but helpers wear protective clothing and continue the service. It means that there is

Of these, Hideko Takahashi (72), who lives in Tokyo, is a nursing care 4 and has difficulty moving her limbs due to rheumatoid arthritis, so nursing care is indispensable for her daily life.



Ms. Takahashi had been in close contact with a man she had eaten with who was infected with the virus, so her female helper wore protective clothing, a medical mask, and goggles and visited her home to help her change clothes. I was.



A female helper said, "No matter how much we protect ourselves, the risk of infection is still not zero, so we are more worried than dealing with ordinary people, but we are doing our best because there are people who cannot live without us." was



Mr. Takahashi said, "I'm bedridden without a helper and can't live a daily life. I'm grateful because I was thinking about what to do if the business owner wouldn't come if I became a close contact."



On the other hand, home-visit nursing care offices that dispatch helpers are concerned about the lack of antigen test kits.



At the office, after helping the infected person or the close contact so as not to spread the infection to other users, we have confirmed whether the antigen test is negative multiple times.



However, due to the spread of infection, it is difficult to obtain test kits, and the frequency of testing has to be reduced.



Junya Shimoda, who is in charge of providing services at a home-visit nursing care facility Digny, said, "The number of test kits is overwhelmingly short due to the seventh wave, so it's a matter of whether each employee can have one. There are people who say that there are no test kits at the places they visit, and I feel that the risk is increasing, so I want them to respond as soon as possible."

Dedicated facility for accepting elderly infected people who need nursing care Shiga

Amidst the rapid spread of the new coronavirus, the lodging facilities operated by Shiga Prefecture that exclusively accept elderly infected people who need nursing care have been almost fully occupied, and the prefecture will be able to respond in the future. We are planning to increase the number of beds.



In the 6th wave of infection, there were many cases of mildly ill elderly people, who were not originally eligible for hospitalization, being hospitalized because they needed nursing care, etc., increasing the burden on medical institutions.



For this reason, Shiga Prefecture has been renting a hotel in Otsu City since May this year, stationing caregivers and nurses, and operating it as an accommodation and medical facility exclusively for elderly people who have mild illnesses and need nursing care.



According to the prefecture, the capacity of this facility is 15 people, but since the beginning of last month, it has been almost full.



For infected people who cannot enter this facility, the prefecture's "nursing care coordinator" who coordinates the nursing home for the elderly arranges home-visit nursing and food delivery.



In the future, the prefecture will prepare to accept such elderly people after dispatching caregivers to a hospital waiting facility in Kusatsu City that temporarily accepts mildly ill patients.



Wataru Kusunoki, a nursing care coordinator in the prefecture, said, ``Since elderly people who can't live alone are given priority and accepted at accommodation facilities, we have no choice but to ask elderly people who can get support from their families to receive treatment at home. I was talking.