Testing to all nursing homes in Porto is about to conclude. Circa five thousand people tested (all beneficiaries and care takers of 87 nursing homes)

By the end of this week, all retirement homes, institutions that accommodate people with disabilities and shelter homes to the homeless in the city of Porto (official, formal, legal or illegal) will have been tested to the new coronavirus. In total, the city of Porto has tested 4.554 people of 87 institution within this programme, set up by Porto City Hall and unique in the country. The project is supported by hospitals and health centres, as well as a private foundation that offered test kits to the Municipality. 

In the retirement homes segment, around 67 facilities have been covered, in a total of 3.720 people. The results of 3.563 samples are already available, and 3.454 tested negative. 65 tested positive, namely 28 elderly and 37 caretakers. 25 were inconclusive and 19 out of those have repeated the swabbing. New results are due to arrive soon.

The infected are now around 1.9% among the total of the population, but among the elderly citizens is even less.

These results are a success because they show that institutions in Porto are broadly well protected and have fulfilled containment guidelines, and thus has protected the elderly.

The launch of this programme as early as March (it was the first in the country and it is the only one that includes all the population of the nursing homes, asymptomatic or not), which has helped train retirement homes on how to deal with this pandemic and to reallocate beneficiaries whenever the institution no longer has the capacity to accommodate them.

Thus, the Youth Hostel received 26 people who haves tested negative, where they are complying with the quarantine and where they are provide basic health care.

This facility enables to provide a suitable and adjusted solution when retirement homes can no longer cope. The fire brigade ensure safe transportation.

Regarding the institutions for people with disabilities, homeless and people living with HIV, 20 such facilities have been screened and a total of 839 people have been tested.

Lab results of 571 people are already available and one person has tested positive, a caretaker that was already at home, in social isolation.

Some of the patients with Covid-19 that have been identified in this mega screening, an initiative by Porto City Hall, set up at SuperBock Arena - Pavilhão Rosa Mota, are already at that facility, where about twenty patients are now, allocated by both public hospitals in Porto.

This was an idea of Porto City Hall, launched by the end of March, and validated by both public hospitals of Porto, and the two heath care centres in the city. The test kits were donated by the Fosun Foundation and by Gestifute of Jorge Mendes.