Prime minister says care home residents could be allowed two visitors

Earlier today, prime minster Boris Johnson announced that a handful of visitors will be allowed in each care home, subject to the availability of rapid testing for Covid-19.

The news comes as Mr Johnson said in a statement that a vaccine and rapid testing combined would make coronavirus obsolete.

He said: ‘We will use rapid turnaround testing, the lateral flow testing that gives results within 30 minutes to identify those without symptoms so they can isolate and avoid transmission.

‘We're beginning to deploy these tests in our NHS and in care homes in England so people will once again be able to hug and hold hands with loved ones instead of waving at them through a window.

‘By the end of the year this will allow every care home resident to have two visitors who can be tested twice a week.’

Care home residents and their loved ones have sorely missed one another during the coronavirus pandemic.

But Ashleigh Rhys, great-granddaughter of 104-year-old Portchester care home resident Ivy Kingswell, says it might not be the right time to go ahead with this.

She said: ‘We’re just about to come out of a national lockdown and people still aren’t listening to the rules.

‘All it takes is for one person to take it into a care home, and there will be a huge problem.

‘We are desperate to see Ivy and she has struggled because she doesn’t quite understand it – she thinks people just aren’t visiting her – but everything has to be safe.

‘Rapid testing would have to be consistent, and the government would have to provide that in abundance for each care home.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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