COVID-19 among nursing home residents: results of an urgent pre-hospital intervention by a multidisciplinary task force

The current coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused 10,541 deaths among nursing home residents in France, by July 17th, 2020. This study reported the results of an urgent pre-hospital intervention in eight French nursing homes. A retrospective study was conducted from March 26th to May 7th, 2020, before and after the intervention of a task force which took action from April 9th to April 11th, 2020. The task force included nurses and specialists of the county general hospital. The intervention had four steps: i) daily notification of deaths; ii) audit by infectious diseases and hygiene specialists focused on nursing team reinforcing, tracking of suspected cases, patients’ cohorting, review of preventive and protective measures, hydration, thromboembolism prevention; iii) intervention of an emergency team which urgently performed procedures suggested; iv) relay with a geriatric team. There were a total of 770 residents distributed in eight facilities with capacity varying from 53 to 145 residents. The number of deaths peaked at 139 in week 2 and the trough at 0 occurred in weeks 6−7. Comparison between periods (before vs after intervention) showed a significant decrease in number of new deaths (83/770; 11% vs 35/687; 5%, p = 0.0001) and new COVID-19 cases (348/770; 45% vs 123/422; 29%, p < 0.001). The urgent pre-hospital intervention by a multidisciplinary task force achieved mortality reduction during COVID-19 outbreak in nursing homes. Pre-hospital intervention is a valid alternative to hospitalization in case of hospital saturation.