As reported, the first inhabitant of the old people's home passed away on April 1. Two tests carried out at the home proved the new coronavirus in a total of 48 people in need of care and tenants of the assisted living facility. 56 of the approximately 100 employees also tested positive or were in quarantine as contact persons. "As of today, 14 residents of the old people's and nursing home have died in connection with a corona infection and two tenants of the assisted living facility," CBT spokeswoman Annette Zang announced on Monday in response to a GA inquiry.

The mood among the staff is tense, some told the GA. Until Tuesday, 31 March, they had been working without protective measures. Some had brought along self-made protective masks, it was reported. Fear was spreading, they said, of becoming infected. This expresses itself on the total atmosphere. The fear does not seem unfounded. Although all those involved - the CBT management, the Rhein-Sieg district and the town of Sankt Augustin - repeatedly emphasise their consistent crisis management, there are indications of breakdowns and misjudgements. On Maundy Thursday, the personnel situation came to a head in such a way that disaster relief workers had to take over the care of the elderly, instructed by a few remaining employees.

As reported, the CBT submitted a meticulous 20-page elaboration of the incidents to the Rhein-Sieg district. This shows how many and which employees were category 1 (KP1) contact persons during the first mass test on April 2, but initially had a negative test result. According to GA information, these employees continued to work in the senior citizens' facility even though direct colleagues or residents tested positive for Sars-CoV-2. Normally, they would have had to stay at home immediately after the contact was established, like about 2500 other people who are currently in "home segregation" throughout the district.

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in its instructions for handling Covid-19 cases in nursing homes stipulates that category 1 persons must stay at home after a negative test. In case of a "relevant staff shortage" this time can be reduced to seven days after consultation with the public health department. The prerequisite is that the affected persons are free of symptoms and work with mouth and nose protection during the entire presence at the workplace. "The deployment of personnel was carried out in close coordination with the authorities along the flow chart drawn up by the RKI," the CBT spokeswoman announced.

Nine employees, according to documents marked KP1, initially continued to work at St. Monika and had a positive result in the second test on 8 April. Employees reported to the GA that they had not received a quarantine order in spite of their KP1 findings, or had received it very late. One employee told the GA that many of them had been working continuously until today, although there had been several colleagues in the immediate vicinity who had tested positive since April 2. Did the district health office not follow up on the contact tracing? Or were the laboratories overloaded? Or did the quarantine orders lie with the local authorities, who have to ensure that they are obeyed? Or had the home management lost the overview? There are still many unanswered questions about the events at the Sankt Augustin Altenheim.

In the meantime, as reported, the public prosecutor's office is also investigating. Against this background, the press office of the Rhein-Sieg-Kreis is currently not answering any questions about the St. Monika CBT home, as employees of the district are also being questioned as witnesses. The district will first await the outcome of the proceedings, spokeswoman Rita Lorenz told the GA on Monday.

A CBT staff member showed the GA an order of the city of Sankt Augustin, which she received on Friday. The letter also bears the date 24 April 2020 and is about protection against infection. From the subject it is clear that the woman had "contact with a person where the Sars-CoV-2 was proven". She is therefore KP1. "Under threat of coercive measures" quarantine is ordered in her living quarters - from 9 to 23 April. "Retroactive?" the woman asks with a sarcastic laugh. She's not the only one who's had it this way.

Ali Dogan, the alderman and operational head of the crisis management team of the city of Sankt Augustin: "The city of Sankt Augustin receives from the district health department the lists of people who are to receive a quarantine order because they are either infected or at least a contact person," he reports. "On these reports the periods of time for the quarantine to be ordered are noted. As soon as we have this information, we will take action. In principle, it takes us a few hours to process them, up to one or two working days, depending on whether we receive the lists at the weekend. It can happen that we order quarantines with times that have already passed. However, as a city we can only become active when we receive the information. We are not yet responsible for contact tracing.

In fact, the town halls in the Rhein-Sieg district are only informed of corona cases by the district health office once they have been confirmed. If local authorities find out about emergencies in community facilities beforehand, it is more likely to be by chance. In Sankt Augustin, for example, the municipal crisis team first learned of the first cases from the doctors treating them - probably through friendly groups. The fact that residents of the Franciscan House in Aegidienberg had fallen ill with the dangerous virus was brought to the attention of the city by a firefighter who had heard it from a member of staff.

Especially in a region like this, where there are many commuters, the statistics do not reflect the number of cases in affected facilities. For example, the geriatric nurses in Sankt Augustin are tested by the smear centre of the Rhein-Sieg district. The positive result goes, according to the obligation to report, but from the laboratory directly to the city of Bonn if a person affected or affected lives there. The Bonn public order office issues the quarantine order, but it does not know that the person concerned works in a sensitive area of nursing care for the sick and elderly. An overview of which employees tested positive and which are contact persons 1 was finally prepared by the CBT personnel department and forwarded to the district health office. However, the infection situation can change quickly, which is why the Rhein-Sieg-Kreis will now, in accordance with new RKI recommendations, continuously test the employees of outpatient nursing services as well as the residents and nursing staff in all homes for the corona virus.

The common rooms will continue to be used in Sankt Augustin. Regarding the question of whether the CBT considers this to be harmless, spokeswoman Zang referred to the current version of the Corona Protection Ordinance of the State of NRW. It says that dining rooms may remain open for residents if the minimum distance of 1.5 metres is granted and there are no queues.

Original text: Dylan Cem Akalin and Bettina Köhl

Translation: Mareike Graepel