Responding to the latest ONS figures on coronavirus deaths in the care sector, which show there were 12,526 deaths of care home residents involving COVID-19 between 2 March and 1 May, Cllr Ian Hudspeth, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said:
“Every death from this virus is a tragedy and this is a further painful reminder of how many older and most vulnerable people have lost their lives to this dreadful disease.
“Social care is on the frontline in the fight against coronavirus. While we have started to see some encouraging signs that infection rates and fatalities are falling, we need to continue doing all we can to shield those in our care homes and those who receive care in their own homes.
“Councils want to play their full part in the national effort to overcome coronavirus, but need help and information to understand where the outbreaks are happening more widely and be able to act quickly to contain them. The Government needs to share this vital and up-to-date data with councils, as part of any contact tracing programme.
“It is also crucial the Government’s online PPE ordering system is fully operational as soon as possible, so that councils and care providers can directly request that critical protective equipment gets to the frontline where it is desperately needed.”
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