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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Voice of the Mirror

Voice of the Mirror: Coronavirus and lack of PPE has turned care homes into death traps

The priority in fighting the coronavirus has been to make sure the NHS has the equipment and resources it needs.

Everyone understands the importance of supporting doctors, nurses and other staff on the frontline. That is why you came out in your millions again last night to applaud our  brilliant national health service.

But the battle against the pandemic is not just being fought in our hospitals and surgeries.

In the scramble to shore up the NHS, the Government appears to have neglected the half a million people in care homes.

These residents are almost exclusively in the high-risk category.

Oak Springs Care Home in Wavertree, Liverpool, where six residents have died from the coronavirus pandemic (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

Yet care home operators say they have been ignored and are struggling to get the help they need. Many are short of staff because workers have had to go into self-isolation.

Others desperately want personal protection equipment such as face masks and gloves.

One home in Luton has reported that 15 of its residents have died and tragically there are more cases emerging across the country.

Without urgent action more lives will be lost.

We cannot allow these homes, offering comfort and support, to turn into death traps.

Break tradition

The Easter break is traditionally a time for worship and for friends and families
to come together.

A time when children enjoy Easter Egg hunts and many head for the country or coast.

With good weather in many parts, the temptation to break the lockdown restrictions will be strong. But we urge you to stay home.

There are signs the social distancing measures are starting to work, easing pressure on the NHS and saving lives. So many have made sacrifices already for the common good.

Let’s not throw all that hard work away.

Stitch in time

Scientists have discovered that Neanderthals enjoyed a spot of knitting.

They must have got their yarn from woolly mammoths.

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