Belgian authorities “abandoned” thousands of elderly people who died in nursing homes during the coronavirus pandemic and did not seek hospital treatment for many who were infected, violating their human rights, Amnesty International said in an investigation published Monday.

Between March and October, 61.3% of all COVID-19 deaths in Belgium took place in nursing homes. The group said authorities weren’t quick enough to implement measures to protect nursing home residents and staff during this period, failing to protect their human rights. A similar percentage of death occurred in Ireland among care home patients.

Amnesty International said one of the reasons so many people died in nursing homes is because infected residents weren’t transferred to hospitals to receive treatment.

“The results of our investigation allow us to affirm that (care homes) and their residents were abandoned by our authorities until this tragedy was publicly denounced and the worst of the first phase of the pandemic was over,” said Philippe Hensmans, the director of Amnesty International Belgium.