AN MP has sent a letter to the Prime Minister urging him to introduce more stringent coronavirus testing for care home workers.

Hove MP Peter Kyle said some homes were “petri dishes for contagion” and said testing workers could “stop the virus from entering care homes at all”.

It comes after Giuseppe Casciello died at Oaklands Nursing Home in Hove after contracting the illness, as reported in The Argus.

He had to wait ten days to be tested. The 95-year-old was one of three residents tested at the home, with two being diagnosed with the virus. Almost three quarters of the 20 residents and seven staff members, have displayed symptoms.

The Labour MP said: “It’s with a very heavy heart I report that Mr Casciello has died. Having spoken to his family, it is clear that the pain of being prevented from being present to support their much-loved Giuseppe in his final moments cuts very deep and is one more reason why we must act now to prevent others suffering similarly.

“Bluntly speaking, when Covid -19 enters a care home with residents living into extreme old age it will likely kill those it infects.”

He urged Boris Johnson to “only allow workers who have tested negative inside care homes”.

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