Care home Covid-19 death rate doubles in fortnight

The number of Covid-19 related deaths in care homes has almost doubled in the last fortnight, according to official figures.

The latest figures provided by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) shows there were 146 coronavirus related deaths in care homes in England in the week ending 23 October.

This is nearly double the figure of 76 recorded by the CQC for the week ending 9 October.

The latest figure is the highest since the week ending 3 July, when 117 deaths were recorded by the watchdog.

The CQC figures also show there 1,980 deaths in total in English care homes for the week ending 23 October, compared to 1,938 in the previous week.

Earlier this month, Amnesty International accused the government of a series of ‘shockingly irresponsible’ decisions, which put the lives of care home residents at risk during the early months of the pandemic.

In a damning report, the human rights organisation claimed thousands of untested patients were discharged into care homes and staff were left without guidance, PPE or access to testing.

Amnesty has called for a full independent public inquiry and a review of visiting guidelines.

In response, Ruth Allen, the CEO at the British Association of Social Workers (BASW), said social work needs to be ’empowered to support those homes, those residents and their families’.

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