Care home worker accused of reckless homicide after Covid outbreak kills eight

A woman who allegedly went to work at a care home in northern Catalonia after testing positive for Covid-19 has been accused of reckless homicide following a deadly outbreak that cost the lives of eight residents.

"Someone acted irresponsibly and broke the rules," said Joan Guirado, the relative of a deceased resident, who spoke to the press after filing criminal charges on Tuesday. 

"My grandmother is dead even though she was perfectly fine two weeks ago—and she had already had Covid and got vaccinated last February or March, just like the other residents," he said.

The Torreblanca care home in Sant Joan les Fonts, in Garrotxa county, is still conducting an internal investigation, but Guirado and his family believe "it’s clear" who the culprit of the outbreak is and urge other relatives to join the criminal lawsuit.

According to Guirado, the accused employee admitted to having tested positive for the virus in a conversation with a fellow worker, but said she would take a pill and go to work as usual.

On August 5, the Torreblanca nursing home canceled all visits from friends and family members in order to test all residents for the virus. While five of them initially tested positive, the number of infections later increased to 18, with eight eventually dying.