'No room for complacency' - warning as weekly number of care home deaths in Hampshire remain the same
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Data collected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) revealed that between May 30 and June 5 there were 15 deaths linked to coronavirus in care homes in the Hampshire County Council area.
There were also 15 the week before, suggesting an overall decline compared to other weeks when the numbers were as high as 81 in seven days.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThis brings the total in Hampshire to 377, meaning it remains the local authority area with the highest number of care home deaths linked to Covid-19 since the records began on April 10.
And between May 30 and June 5 there were no new care home deaths related to the virus in Portsmouth leaving the city's total as 37. The last recorded care home death in the city was on May 11.
The south east regional secretary for public service union Unison, Steve Torrance, said: 'Care staff will welcome this drop in the number of reported deaths, but know there is no room for complacency.
'Fundamental changes in how the care sector is financed and organised are clearly needed.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad'But for now staff are staying cautious and doing everything they can to keep some of the most vulnerable people in society safe and ensure there is no return to the disastrous situation of just a few weeks ago.'
The figures also showed that deaths involving Covid-19 as a percentage of all deaths in care homes decreased to 28.2 per cent in the week of May 23, compared with 32.5 per cent in the previous week.
Councillor Liz Fairhurst, adult social care and health boss at Hampshire County Council, added: 'The number of deaths in our local authority care homes has broadly reached pre-coronavirus levels, and the downwards trend continues across Hampshire’s independent care home sector too.
'While this is very encouraging, we must continue to be extremely vigilant. This means maintaining our stringent infection control procedures, isolating those we care for with confirmed Covid-19 or symptoms of the virus, from those who are well, limiting visitors to ‘end of life’ visiting only, and helping to ensure the government’s national care home testing programme is implemented across all homes in our county.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad'By staying alert we hope to see the virus brought further under control across all residential and nursing homes in Hampshire.'
Southampton saw six new deaths between May 30 and June 5, up from two the week before – bringing its total to 52.
In England there have now been 11,614 care home deaths linked to coronavirus – with 424 deaths between May 30 and June 5. The previous week there were 535.
Portsmouth City Council was approached for comment.
Some of the weekly figures increase in later data releases when more deaths in the period are notified to CQC.
A message from the Editor
Thank you for reading this story on portsmouth.co.uk. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.
With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.
Subscribe to portsmouth.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to local news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit our Subscription page now to sign up.
Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.
Comment Guidelines
National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.