Responding to the latest ONS figures on coronavirus deaths, which show that deaths involving COVID-19 as a percentage of all deaths in care homes decreased to 28.2 per cent in the week to 29 May, compared with 32.5 per cent in the previous week, Cllr Ian Hudspeth, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said:
“Each and every one of these lives lost to this dreadful disease is a tragedy and our thoughts go out to those family and friends in mourning.
“Social care remains the frontline in the fight against coronavirus, despite the encouraging weekly decline in the number of care home deaths attributable to COVID-19.
“Worryingly, the total number of excess deaths in care homes continues to be higher than the five-year average, leaving our older people and most vulnerable at risk.
“Councils are doing all they can to protect those in care homes, as well as those receiving care in their own homes. Every council in England has prepared plans on how to support all care homes in their areas to control and prevent future infection outbreaks, working alongside the NHS locally and with Public Health England.
“These plans, alongside greater information sharing with councils on where outbreaks are happening more widely as part of the test and trace programme, will help in our shared national effort to finally defeat this disease.
“The LGA will also be working closely with the new National COVID-19 Social Care Support Taskforce to tackle these issues and help guide social care through this current crisis and beyond.”
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