Study by the Barmer replacement fund: Nursing homes are still Corona

The nursing homes are still corona hotspots: since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, not nearly as many nursing staff have been unable to work due to a corona infection as this year.

As can be seen from the Barmer nursing report published on Tuesday, in July 2022 almost 40 times as many nursing professionals in facilities were on sick leave due to a Covid 19 infection as in the same month last year.

In March, the previous peak since the beginning of the pandemic was reached with 158 sick leave per 10,000 inpatient nursing staff.

Compared to March of the previous year, there were 14 times as many sick leave.

Nursing homes are still corona hotspots, warned Barmer boss Christoph Straub.

"Corona concept with a sense of proportion"

Those in need of care were also severely affected by the respective corona waves.

At the peak of the second wave, in December 2020, 55 percent of those who died with Covid 19 were in need of inpatient care.

At the end of the fourth wave in December 2021, it was still 30 percent.

"The weakest and particularly vulnerable people who still need our protection live in the nursing home," emphasized Straub. "A proportionate corona concept is therefore still necessary, especially for those in need of protection".

As can also be seen from the care report, the number of people being cared for in full inpatient care fell at the beginning of the pandemic.

The number of people who switched from home care to a nursing home fell from over 25,000 in April 2018 and 2019 to around 17,000 in May 2020. This corresponds to a decrease of around a third.

One reason was the relatives' fear of infection.

Only later in the course of the pandemic did the number of people who moved into homes increase again.

This also had some financial implications.

According to the report, there was additional expenditure in outpatient and inpatient care facilities, for example for staff, and reduced income, among other things due to unoccupied places in the home.

Another large block of costs was the expenditure for antigen tests from October 2020.

The bottom line is that the amounts for care rescue packages, antigen tests and corona care premiums for the care insurance companies added up to more than nine billion euros by the first quarter of 2022.

According to Barmer, despite subsequent tax subsidies, 6.4 billion euros remained open at the end of the first quarter of 2022.