Retirement and nursing homes currently available. It took quite some time until relatives but also volunteers who had relieved the therapeutic and nursing staff before the pandemic were once again gradually perceived as a supportive pillar in the everyday running of the homes. Reports by the commissions on monitoring visits from July 2020 onwards showed that generally speaking “normal” visiting by advance appointment with registration as well as hygiene standards and obligation to wear a mask was possible in the summer. Hygiene requirements not fit for purpose in a pandemic Strict compliance with hygiene-related preventive measures gained in importance with the sharp rise in the numbers of infections in autumn 2020 and the shifting of opportunities to meet to the indoors. Commissions noted critically in their feedback to those responsible for the homes that compliance with the preventive measures could be better. Commission 3 visited a home in Carinthia in October 2020 in which neither the staff nor the residents and their relatives were wearing masks on the day of the visit. The staff appeared not to be adequately trained in the use of PPE and some did not know where it was stored. The Commission saw a structural deficit in the fact that the provisions set forth in the Carinthian Nursing Home Act (Kärtner Pflegeheimgesetz) and in the regulation enacted therein allow that one hygiene officer from the operator organisation is responsible for a total of nine care homes. The NPM noted that a legal comparison of the applicable standards in the individual Laender showed that there was little emphasis on infection prevention and hygiene-related regulations (with the exception of Vienna) before the pandemic. Regulations were enacted in Vienna and Burgenland in the late summer that stipulated who is allowed to enter care facilities under compliance with what conditions. The COVID-19 Preventive Measures Regulation (COVID-19 Schutzmaßnahmenverordnung) that came into force on 1 November 2020 (Federal Law Gazette II No. 463/2020) contained binding, nationwide applicable standards for the operators of retirement and nursing homes for the first time. These were tightened with the second lockdown on 17 November 2020 through the COVID-19 Emergency Measures Regulation (COVID-19Notmaßnahmenverordnung) (Federal Law Gazette II No. 479/2020). In December 2020, amendments were added in the 2nd and 3rd COVID-19 Preventive Measures Regulations (Federal Law Gazette II No. 544/2020 and Federal Law Gazette II No. 566/2020) as well as the 2nd COVID-19 Emergency Measures Regulation (Federal Law Gazette II No. 598/2020). Operators must present prevention concepts 39 These regulations from the Federal Government increased infection prevention in view of a number of clusters in care facilities. Furthermore, stricter visiting management as well as test strategies for the nursing staff, the medical and therapeutic staff and also the residents were enforced. Exceptions for specifically defined situations were permitted for relatives and persons who regularly perform supporting and care tasks. The regulations from the Minister