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 continued to rise to 39.2 per cent in the week to 8 May, compared with 37.8 per cent in the previous week, Cllr Ian Hudspeth, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said:
“No one in care should have to suffer from this dreadful disease and every death from this virus is a tragedy.
“Every week, these figures act as a heart-breaking reminder of how many of our older and most vulnerable people have lost their lives, leaving behind family and friends in mourning.
“Social care is on the frontline in the fight against coronavirus. While we have started to thankfully see a decline in some figures, it is still incredibly worrying that the percentage of all deaths in care homes attributed to COVID-19 has increased.
“We must 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 the 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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