After the Corona scandal – Nursing home Tannenhof: Five suspects charged!

In November 2020, pure chaos reigned in the Tannenhof nursing home in St. Lorenzen in the Mürztal: The corona virus raged, almost all residents fell ill, 18 died. The staff was overwhelmed, in great distress the army took command and left to provide assistance.

The Leoben public prosecutor’s office has been investigating those responsible in the house for months now – the criminal charges have now been filed. The “Krone” knows all the details.

Five people will have to answer for themselves in court, the public prosecutor’s office in Leoben has filed a report. This is not yet legally binding. In concrete terms, it concerns the crime of “intentionally endangering people through communicable diseases”.

18 people in need of care died as a result of a corona infection, eleven died not only ‘with’ but even ‘from Covid’, the coroner determined.

Although norovirus broke out in the “Tannenhof” in 2016/17, the operators learned nothing from the dangerous exceptional situation and did not take any hygiene measures for the future. Corona came four years later.

“Serious deficiencies in basic hygiene”
According to the public prosecutor’s office, all prevention concepts were missing, there was no cooperation with the hygiene specialist sent by the state of Styria and there was no relevant training for the staff. Conclusion: The hygiene specialist on site testified to the nursing home’s “serious deficiencies in basic hygiene” and criticized the fact that corona patients were not separated from healthy residents.

On the contrary – the first defendant even instructed not to differentiate between those who tested positive and those who tested negative. In fact, the former directors of the Styrian Workers-Samaritan Association (ASB) and operators not only ignored the alarm calls, but even kicked out the expert!

Protection concepts could have contained the virus
The public prosecutor arrives with heavier guns. Protective equipment was too expensive for the bosses, only a “minimal purchase” was made in China. The delivery did not come until the virus had already paralyzed the nursing home. Contaminated protective gowns were not thrown away, but reused to save money. According to the expert, the spread of Covid-19 could have been contained if the guidelines had been followed.

Lawyer Karin Prutsch represents the former management of the nursing service. She cannot understand the accusations against her client: “She tried to take care of the residents as best she could with the resources at her disposal. She often announced a lack of resources, but did not receive them. She has nothing criminal done.”