Nursing homes or abandoned castles: COVID-19 in Italy

In May 2020, during the first wave of COVID-19, we described Italian retirement homes (particularly in northern Italy) as besieged castles. 1  These homes were in difficult times with no visitors allowed and a very high number of deaths, but overall they remained strong and capable of maintaining standards of care. As of December, 2020, during the second wave, the situation has changed completely. We could now describe Italian nursing homes as abandoned castles, where the virus has entered and settled; causing very serious damage. By whom were they abandoned? First, by the governments, both regional and national. In Italy, a large amount of money was distributed to different types of private enterprise but none was dedicated to helping the survival of residences for older people, burdened by very high losses due to missed revenues and increased costs. Additionally, the government repeatedly declared that retirement homes do not belong to the public service network. 2