The Giswil OW case affects people. Within three weeks, nine senior citizens died of Corona in the «dr Heimä» retirement home.
The staff did not wear masks – because the head of the home only wanted to see the mask requirement as a «recommendation». Other nursing homes in the region would also have taken advantage of this supposed “leeway”. But that’s not true, said the canton. “It is not correct that there was no mask requirement for the staff in the homes or that this was lifted by the canton,” said Sandro Kanits from the Obwalden finance department, which is responsible for health issues in this case.
Now the canton has responded to the series of deaths and invited to a conversation between the canton and the homes. “The canton of Obwalden, chaired by the health director Maya Büchi-Kaiser, held a round table on the subject of Covid-19 in old people’s and nursing homes,” said the Obwalden State Chancellery.
The Giswil case has not yet been settled
As part of this conversation, it was decided to intensify the regular exchange in the future. The situation in the Giswil retirement home has now calmed down. Therefore, visits from relatives will be possible again from the coming weekend. In general, the situation in the homes is currently stable. There were no other corona cases.
Health Director Maya Büchi-Kaiser welcomes the positive developments and is happy that the situation has calmed down. But that does not end the Giswil file. The police are still investigating the case. (jmh)