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Coronavirus outbreaks in one in three care homes in England
More than a third of English care homes have reported COVID-19 outbreaks, according to Public Health England (PHE).
Data released today by PHE showed that of the 15,514 care homes in England, 5,546 had reported cases of the virus as of 10 May.
The total number of outbreaks recorded for the week 4 May to 10 May stood at 418, down from a peak of 1,002 a month ago.
The data comes two days after prime minister Boris Johnson announced an extra £600m for care homes in England to control infection.
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: “With every day it becomes clearer that what’s been happening in care homes is a scandal behind closed doors and whatever happens we must make sure it can never happen again.”
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Since PHE began recording the data, the South East has had the most suspected or confirmed outbreaks – at 1,023. This is followed by the North West, which has had 787.
The government has come in for criticism in the way it has sought to protect the care sector, with shortages of personal protective equipment and insufficient testing reported over the past month.
Data published this week showed that men and women working in social care have a significantly higher risk of dying from coronavirus.
Separate figures released today by the Office for National Statistics revealed that since the onset of the outbreak COVID-19 has been involved in nearly a third of all care home deaths in England and Wales.
Between 2 March and 9 May 2020 there have been 45,899 deaths of care home residents, with 12,526 (27.3%) of these involving COVID-19.
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