"It was dazzling." While France counts 7,752 coronavirus deaths on Monday evening in nursing homes and other medico-social establishments, the establishment at Mars-la-Tour, in Meurthe-et-Moselle, was very badly affected by the epidemic. "In 15 days we lost the number of residents that we lose on average in a year", confirms to the microphone of Europe 1 Stéphanie Remiatte, the director of the Ehpad. "We didn't see him coming. Some residents weren't even symptomatic and within two hours" their state of health was deteriorating sharply, she explains.
"I have no explanations"
The establishment had however prohibited family visits from March 9, two days before the government order. "I have no explanations, I think we will never know how the virus entered [inside the Ehpad], I think it was already installed before", breathes the director. Despite strict confinement of residents, the first two deaths occur on April 2, and this number is racing to reach the 22 dead. Almost half of the residents for this Ehpad which had 51.
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"We are not armed in the face of this kind of health crisis"
"The measures that we could take, we took them, but we have eleven double rooms, which does not facilitate isolation, and many residents leave their rooms and roam the corridors. It must be understood that we can't confine all of our residents to their rooms, it's very complicated, "added the director. "You can't put a staff member on everyone's bedside to keep them from getting out of their room." And to recognize: "We are not armed in the face of this kind of health crisis."