Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash

A retirement home in a COVID-19-hit Italian region has reported no cases of the virus after taking preemptive action long before measures were taken elsewhere.

The Guerreschi retirement home in the town of Capralba in the northern Italian region of Lombardy, one of the most affected regions in the country, has reported zero COVID-19 cases since the outbreak began.

At the beginning of February, 40 people lived in the home, according to onsite doctor Bruno Corradi.

He told local media: “We saw on the news what was happening in China while doctors in nearby towns were complaining about a sudden spike in lung problems that seemed exceptional.

As a result, bosses decided to introduce isolation measures “one week before the first patient was diagnosed with COVID-19 in Codogno”.

Corradi added: “The management had already started to ask people to wear face masks and this helped make the workers feel safer.

He also said that family visits were suspended except for urgent situations.

According to reports, two workers displaying mild symptoms of the virus were told to self-isolate.

Nursing home manager Daniela Dolci said: “We have been lucky, but we also used common sense which could also have been applied in other public and private homes.”

According to local media, the home has reported one death since the outbreak began, but that was ruled as a heart attack.

According to the latest figures from the Johns Hopkins University, Italy has registered 135,586 cases of COVID-19, 17,127 deaths and 24,392 recoveries.

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