COVID-19: first long-term care facility outbreak in the Netherlands following cross-border introduction from Germany, March 2020.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The Dutch province of Limburg borders the German district of Heinsberg, which had a large cluster of COVID-19 cases linked to local carnival activities before any cases were reported in the Netherlands. However, Heinsberg was not included as an area reporting local or community transmission per the national case definition at the time. In early March, two residents from a long-term care facility (LTCF) in Sittard, a Dutch town located in close vicinity to the district of Heinsberg, tested positive for COVID-19. In this study we aimed to determine whether cross-border introduction of the virus took place by analysing the LTCF outbreak in Sittard, both epidemiologically and microbiologically.

Methods

Surveys and semi-structured oral interviews were conducted with al

SUBMITTER: van Hensbergen M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8094983 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature