Corona infections in the Rhein-Sieg district 34 tested positive in refugee accommodation
Königswinter/Sankt Augustin · In a refugee accommodation in Königswinter 34 inhabitants are infected with the corona virus. While the situation is getting worse there, it continues to relax in Sankt Augustin.
The situation in the refugee accommodation in the former Haus Katharina in Königswinter is coming to a head: after three of the approximately 140 residents tested positive for the corona virus at the end of last week, the number of cases increased to 34 on Monday afternoon. This was announced to the GA by Königswinter's mayor Peter Wirtz in the early evening on request. To make matters worse, he added: There is great unrest among the residents. In order to avoid an escalation in the accommodation, test results had been delivered accompanied by police officers.
On Thursday, two residents had been tested positive for SARS CoV-2, and on Friday, another person. The team of a mobile smear centre then tested the residents of the accommodation, where families, couples and individuals, mostly younger age groups from 30 nationalities, live, on Friday. Seven people could not have been tested due to absence; these tests would be repeated. With the swabs evaluated by the laboratory so far, the rate of positive cases is thus less than one third, Wirtz said on Monday: "However, this is of course only a snapshot.“
Massive unrest among residents
In addition, there had been "massive unrest" among the residents. The people had to stay in their rooms, and some were very frightened. Wirtz: "This is an emotionally extremely stressful situation." The latter also applies to the city's employees, who have been providing the residents with food and all the necessary necessities through a sluice since the complete quarantine was imposed. According to Wirtz, the team deserves the utmost respect. The same applies to the police, who have been extremely cooperative with the city.
One of the issues discussed in the municipal crisis team, which met again on Monday for a mammoth session, was and is whether and how alternative accommodation can be made possible. One thing is clear: the quarantine must be maintained in one way or another to prevent further infections.
Good news from Sankt Augustin
Good news, however, came on Monday from the CBT apartment building St. Monika in Sankt Augustin: 21 residents who tested positive for the corona virus on Good Friday and were taken to hospitals are back in the apartment building. The remaining 16 senior citizens will return successively until the beginning of May, Annette Zang, company spokeswoman of CBT – Caritas-Betriebsführungs- und Trägergesellschaft mbH – announced.
"With 14 residents, two consecutive negative swabs have shown recovery from the corona virus, and we are particularly pleased that there is a lady of 101 among them," said Zang. The second negative test result of the other seven ladies and gentlemen is still pending. They are therefore in quarantine in the isolation area of the residence. According to Zang, 23 of the employees are back in the community after their quarantine is over. A further 33 employees are currently still in quarantine and are expected to return "successively until the beginning of May". In connection with a corona infection, twelve senior citizens of the Augustiner Wohnhaus have died: ten residents from the old people's and nursing home and two tenants from the assisted living facility.
Original text: Dylan Cem Akalin and Claudia Sülzen
Translation: Mareike Graepel
