Coronavirus: Fears over Covid-19 care home death toll

Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty announced that about one in seven of the 17,000 care homes in England has reported an outbreak of Covid-19, which is increasingly fatal to older people.

It comes amid a study of five European countries which suggests about half the deaths from coronavirus are happening in care homes.

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The full scale of the fatalities in care homes in England is not yet known, as data published weekly by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) is published far later than official NHS statistics for hospitals.

Caroline Lucas, Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, said: “The Government’s catalogue of failures when it comes to dealing with the devastation which coronavirus is causing in our care system means that it’s more urgent than ever that a comprehensive care package is introduced and it’s something I’ve been demanding in regular communications with ministers.

“It’s scandalous that the Government’s daily reports on death rates still don’t include up-to-date figures for deaths in care homes and in the community.

“I raised this personally in a phone call with Dominic Raab last week – a time lag of as much as 17 days means it’s impossible for policy makers to grasp the scale of infection and fatalities and makes it almost inevitable that the spread of the virus in care homes is being grossly under estimated.”

An outbreak in Oaklands Nursing Home in Dyke Road Avenue, Hove, is understood to have started on March 12.

One of the first residents to show symptoms, Giuseppe Casciello, died on March 30, two days after his 95th birthday.

One by one, and despite the best efforts from managers who were instructing people to self-isolate, residents and staff developed symptoms, including a high fever, coughing and breathing difficulties.

Families said about three quarters of the residents and a number of staff have reportedly displayed symptoms.

Ms Lucas said: “The continued failure to provide adequate PPE [personal protective equipment] to care home staff shows utter contempt for those who are putting their lives on the line on a daily basis. Care home staff are not second class carers and they need proper protection.

“They, together with people being discharged from hospital into care homes, should also be treated as a priority alongside critical NHS staff when it comes to testing.

“Residents, their families and care homes staff are feeling abandoned by the Government.”

John Kent, whose mother is ill at Oaklands, described the situation for families as “horrific”.

He said: “This was first raised three or four weeks ago in Parliament and there were assurances given by the Prime Minister but the problems continue to escalate and the sector is being abandoned.

“From a national picture, I’m horrified as I think that everything we are seeing suggests that things haven’t changed.”

At least three other homes in Brighton and Hove have been struck by Covid-19.

These are Lindridge Care Home in Laburnum Avenue, Hove, Craven Vale in Craven Road, Brighton, and Fairdene Lodge in Walsingham Road, Hove.

Charities have now taken the desperate step of writing to First Secretary of State Dominic Raab to plead for action.

The Alzheimer’s Society, along with Marie Curie, Age UK, Care England and Independent Age, are calling for the Government to publish a comprehensive plan to support social care through the coronavirus pandemic.

The letter reads: “We urgently need testing and protective equipment made available to care homes – as we’re seeing people in them being abandoned to the worst that coronavirus can do.

“Instead of being allowed hospital care, to see their loved ones and to have the reassurance that testing allowed and for the staff who care for them to have even the most basic of PPE, they are told they cannot go to hospital, routinely asked to sign Do Not Resuscitate orders and cut off from their families when they need them most.”

Peter Kyle, MP for Hove and Portslade spoke of the care homes’ plight at Prime Minister’s Questions on March 24.

He also claimed that unprotected agency workers may be spreading the disease from home to home.

At the time, Boris Johnson promised all care homes would have PPE “by the end of the week”.

Mr Kyle said: “It’s not easy for the charity sector to speak out against the Government and they don’t do so easily. The fact they have done so, means we should all sit up and listen. I’ve been calling for PPE and testing in care homes for four weeks now, and I’ve moved heaven and earth to try and unblock problems in supply – there’s more to do and I welcome the support of organisations such as Alzheimer’s Society.

“It’s no exaggeration to say without an improved system of testing and provision of PPE, all care home residents’ lives are at risk.”

• The coronavirus Sussex Crisis Fund has been set up to help those affected by the pandemic. The Argus’s charity and American Express have each donated £50,000 to kick-start the appeal. Grants will usually be for up to £5,000. More information is available at www.sussexgiving. org.uk/apply. To donate visit www.totalgiving.co.uk/appeal/sussexcrisisfund