Almost 20,000 care home residents have died with coronavirus, official figures show
NEARLY 20,000 care home residents have died of coronavirus, the Office for National Statistics said.
The latest figures show a total of 19,394 patients died between March 2 and June 12 in care homes in England and Wales.
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The fatalities recorded by ONS refer to all deaths of care home residents, whether they died at a care home or in another setting, such as a hospital.
It comes as the government today said staff and residents in care homes will be regularly tests for Covid-19.
The Department of Health said Friday that staff will be tested weekly, while residents will receive a test every 28 days as part of a new social care testing strategy.
It added that this new strategy is in addition to any intensive testing in any care home that is facing an outbreak or at risk of one.
The programme will be rolled out to all care homes for the over 65s and those with dementia which have registered to receive retesting over the next four weeks.
It will then be expended to the entire care home sector from August.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “Our response to this global pandemic has always been led by the latest scientific advice from world-class experts, and we will now offer repeat testing to staff and residents in care homes, starting with homes for elderly residents before expanding to the entire care home sector.
“This will not only keep residents and care workers safe, but it will give certainty and peace of mind to the families who may be worried about their loved ones, and give staff the confidence to do what they do best.”
The government has repeatedly come under fire over its criticism in how it handled the outbreak in the care homes.
This morning, Boris Johnson was asked if an earlier lockdown could have prevented some deaths in care homes..
Mr Johnson told LBC: “We will have to go back and look at the whole issue of what happened in care homes in great, great detail.
“I think what happened was absolutely tragic, there’s no question that we saw far too many lives lost in care homes and we mourn for everyone.”
Mr Johnson added that he disputed the claims that people were pushed into care homes from the NHS to make space in hospitals.
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He said that the numbers of people going into care homes fell by 40 per cent from January to March.
He said: “What we certainly wanted to do to was to ensure we had the space in the NHS, that’s absolutely right, but what I’m told is every decision to move people out of the beds in the NHS was taken on a clinical basis and not in any way intended to endanger the care homes.
“Whether an earlier lockdown would have made the crucial difference is something that really we will have to go over and look at.”
More to follow…
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