56 elderly people in Umeå municipality's elderly care have this week been confirmed infected with covid-19 in various homes.
At the same time, the staff is under severe pressure from the sick situation and no relief is yet seen.
- In my area of responsibility, it's tough.
Yesterday we had 25 absentees with covid, but also other absences.
The staff works hard so that this does not affect the users.
Many are tired, says Björn Hammar, operations manager for health and medical care at home in Umeå municipality.
Mild symptoms
A total of 109 employees in elderly care had confirmed covid-19 on Monday.
But so far, the majority of both the elderly and the staff seem to have relatively mild symptoms.
Few need hospital care.
- We still have the same restrictions, use all protective equipment.
There is mouth protection on during the entire work shift, for example, says Björn Hammar.
The municipality hopes to be able to get started with giving the elderly dose four as soon as possible.
But the large sickness absence among the staff puts a stop to it.
- As soon as we can, we want to get started.
Vaccine is available.
It is the staffing issue that is the problem.
We currently have hardly any nurses in place.
It is extremely tough to start an effort like this then, says Björn Hammar.