Care home deaths 'have trebled in a week' as Government accused of playing down numbers

The number of Covid-19 deaths in care homes are feared to have trebled in just one week.

From March 6 to April 7 an estimated 1,378 died. But by Easter Monday, that had risen to an estimated 4,040.

Statistics from the National Care Forum estimate 2,662 people died in residential and nursing homes that week alone.

We warned a fortnight ago how care homes were a breeding ground for the virus because of a lack of personal protective equipment.

The new data gives the clearest indication yet of the true extent of deaths in care homes.

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NCF executive director Vik Rayner said: “It’s a wake-up call. While all the attention has been on managing the peak in hospitals, the virus has attacked our most vulnerable communities.

“The Government said it will do ‘whatever it takes’ to tackle the virus. It must act at once and build a ring of steel around care homes.

“They need the right PPE, medical monitoring devices, rapid and comprehensive testing, proper funding and intensive research to safeguard residents.”

Statistics from the National Care Forum estimate 2,662 people died in residential and nursing homes in one week alone (Getty)

The NCF gathered data on suspected and confirmed Covid-19 deaths from 1,169 residential and nursing homes, then applied the figures across the whole country.

It estimates that 4,040 residents have died from the virus since the earliest stages. That mirrors estimates earlier this week from the Independent Care Group.

And it reflected a peak in UK deaths recorded in hospitals the same week.

Mark Adams, CEO of Community Integrated Care said: 'When you have 400,000 vulnerable people in homes they’re perfect target for virus' (Getty)

This week Health Secretary Matt Hancock finally promised proper testing for care homes.

Mark Adams, CEO of Community Integrated Care, which has 4,500 frontline workers, said: “It’s frustrating hearing the Government playing down the numbers, but these figures give us a glimpse of what is really going on.

“When you have 400,000 vulnerable people in homes they’re the perfect target for the virus.

“We need to learn from this crisis and fix social care for the future. Workers have been doing everything to slow down the virus but they need the support of the Government.

“We need to test the hell out of everyone and provide comprehensive PPE to stop it.”