At the beginning of the corona pandemic, there was great concern about people being cared for in care facilities. In the meantime, Corona has lost its terror for many. But in the nursing homes, nothing is back to normal for a long time, according to the current care report from Barmer Krankenkasse.
In many retirement and nursing homes there are still exceptional conditions due to the corona pandemic. In March 2022, more nurses were absent due to Covid 19 than at any time since the pandemic began. The Barmer Krankenkasse reports this in its current care report. With 158 certificates of incapacity for work per 10,000 nursing staff, there were 14 times as many absences in March as in the same period last year. In July 2022, sick leave was 118 sick leave certificates per 10,000 skilled workers, 40 times higher than a year earlier.
Accordingly, those in need of care in German homes are still severely affected by the respective corona waves. “Nursing homes are still corona hotspots. There are particularly vulnerable groups here. We still need a proportionate corona concept, especially for those in need of special protection,” demanded Professor Dr. Christoph Straub, the CEO of Barmer. Strict compliance with the distance and hygiene rules remains necessary.
At the beginning of the pandemic in particular, admissions to nursing homes fell significantly. The number of people moving from home care to inpatient care fell from over 25,000 in April 2018 and 2019 to around 17,000 in May 2020. It was only later in the pandemic that the number of people moving from the switched from home to inpatient care, again.
“At the beginning of the pandemic, fewer people came to the nursing home because the relatives were afraid for their health. However, the vaccinations and compliance with the rules of distance and hygiene were able to significantly reduce the risk of death from corona. However, the nursing homes have to be prepared for be prepared for further corona waves,” says the author of the care report, Prof. Dr. Heinz Rothgang from SOCIUM – Research Center for Inequality and Social Policy at the University of Bremen. At the beginning of the pandemic, 50 to 60 percent of those who died with Covid-19 were people who had previously been cared for in hospital. At the end of the fourth wave, in December 2021, it was still 30 percent.
According to the care report, the pandemic also has a massive impact on financing through social care insurance. In the outpatient and inpatient care facilities, there was on the one hand additional expenditure, for example for materials and staff, and on the other hand reduced income, among other things due to unoccupied places in the home.
An extreme cost factor was the expenses for antigen tests from October 2020. The bottom line, according to the health insurance company, is that the amounts for care rescue packages, antigen tests and the corona care premium will amount to more than nine billion euros by the first quarter of 2022. Despite subsequent tax subsidies, 6.4 billion euros remained open at the end of the first quarter of 2022.