Surveillance of COVID-19 at long-term care facilities in the EU/EEA
The high COVID-19 morbidity and mortality observed among residents in long-term care facilities (LTCF) in EU/EEA countries poses a major challenge for disease prevention and control in such settings. Furthermore, the lack of special surveillance systems and the differences in testing strategies and capacities among countries may have led to a significant under-ascertainment and under-reporting of cases, contributing to a general underestimation of the disease burden and mortality in LTCFs.
It is of paramount importance to be able to rapidly identify, assess and control COVID-19 outbreaks in LTCFs in order to protect this particularly fragile population. This document provides guidance for EU/EEA Member States planning to implement monitoring systems at LTCFs and describes the surveillance objectives.
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Erratum: on 9 June 2020 figures were corrected for Portugal in Annex Tables A1 and A2 at the request of Portugal’s Ministry of Health.