Care homes in Britain resemble "warzones" with coronavirus killing the elderly without them able to say goodbye to loved ones, says a Labour MP.
Peter Kyle, who has represented Hove, East Sussex, for nearly five years, claims care workers are spreading the virus into the homes because of a lack of PPE (personal protective equipment).
He also alleges the tens of thousands of UK care homes are not equipped enough to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, staff lack basic training and the Government is unaware of its failings.
Writing a column for Daily Mail today, the 49-year-old politician said: "I was an aid worker in the Balkans for a decade and I’m having conversations with care staff and managers now that remind me vividly of that warzone. They are in extreme crisis, being stretched in ways they could never have anticipated.
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"Yet the Government seems oblivious to all this. Deaths in care homes from coronavirus are not even included in the official statistics, which are based on hospital fatalities only.
"Since the coronavirus crisis began, these institutions have closed their doors to family members. These visits are a highlight of the week for most residents, but it’s a necessary precaution.
"A crisis on a scale that defies imagination is sweeping Britain’s care homes. Unseen, unreported and too often alone, our elderly are dying from the coronavirus epidemic – killed by the system that is meant to keep them safe."
With care homes forced to close to visitors under the Government rules, those dying there have been unable to say goodbye to friends and family.
In Hove, one grandfather died in isolation in a care home. The 95-year-old man usually saw his family every day so his passing particularly devastated daughter Gisela.
"Gisela’s heart is breaking at the thought of it. That story is happening up and down the country," Mr Kyle added.
"It’s barbaric and we have to act now.
"First, everyone who works in a care home has to be tested for Covid-19. If they have the infection, they must not go to work.
"Secondly, the agency system that sends carers into several homes each week must stop. The Government needs to work with employers to ensure staff are assigned to just one home each, which will mean urgent funding to increase staff capacity.
"Thirdly, we need much more protective equipment. Staff don’t have even the basics to deal with Covid-19. This is an outright failure by the Government."
