Responding to the latest ONS and CQC figures on deaths from COVID-19 in the community, which show that up until 24 April 4,343 people died from COVID-19 in care homes, Cllr Ian Hudspeth, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board:
“It is truly shocking to see how many of the most elderly and vulnerable in our communities have died from this dreadful disease.
“Every death from this virus is a tragedy. This is being exacerbated by the fact some social care staff and other frontline workers still lack the necessary PPE to protect themselves and the people they care for from contracting coronavirus.
“Social care is now the frontline in the fight against coronavirus and we need to do all we can to shield people in care homes and those receiving care in their own homes.
“It is urgent that the Government’s online PPE ordering system is fully rolled out as soon as possible, so that councils and care providers can directly request that critical protective equipment gets to those who desperately need it.
“This has to be alongside an increase in rapid and comprehensive testing and in other kinds of support to care homes, such as staffing and equipment, on an equal footing with the NHS. Councils stand ready to play their part in this and are already doing so in many places.
“We are also yet to see the peak of the stress on the social care system, due to the delay between hospital admissions and discharge, which will require the need to start shifting capacity across from hospitals and into the community to meet a surge in demand.”
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