UPDATE 1-Spain opens 200 criminal inquiries into care home pandemic failings
Reuters
1/21/2021
(Adds quotes, reaction from care home association)
By Belén Carreño and Nathan Allen
MADRID, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Spain's public prosecutor is investigating more than 200 cases of potential criminal mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic at nursing homes, where the virus spread almost unchecked during the devastating first wave.
Angel Juarez, whose 95-year-old mother Leonor died from the virus at a Barcelona care home, sued the regional health department over alleged mismanagement of such facilities for the elderly and infirm.
"It's not about political beliefs, everything failed. It is a matter of justice: they died an undignified death," he told Reuters by phone. "We want to shine a light on the negligence and clarify who was responsible."