At ;least ten residents from Owen Mor care home in Derry have now died from Coronavirus – seven at the home and three at hospital
The extent of the spread of the deadly virus through care homes in the North remains unclear despite an earlier commitment by the Health Minister Robin Swann to provide clarity on the matter.
According to figures released on Friday April 17, 26 per cent or 41 of the 157 deaths involving Covid-19 here since the start of the pandemic up until April 10, happened in 23 care homes and hospices.
But the statistics do not identify the deaths that occurred only in care homes.
They also do not identify how many of the 109 people who have died in hospital contracted the virus in a care home, and it is unclear whether the information is being collected by health officials.
There were also seven deaths at private addresses.
In Derry, three of the ten residents of Owen Mor Care Centre on the city’s Culmore Road where there is currently a Coronavirus outbreak, who died between March 28 and April 14, passed away in hospital.
This means that their deaths are not included in the figure of 41 that was released by officials on Friday.
And health officials have also been unable to state how many care home residents or staff have been diagnosed with Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.
The deaths of the residents has left Owen Mor care home staff devastated who have also been putting themselves at risk of catching the deadly virus.
The number of care home residents who have died from Coronavirus across the UK could be more than five times the government’s estimate, the sector’s main charity has warned.
Care England, the UK’s largest representative body for care homes, says that up to 7,500 care home residents may have died of the virus.
This is significantly higher than the figure of 1,400 people estimated to have died by the government last week.
There are serious concerns over the measures that have been put in place to protect care home residents in the North of Ireland.
A leading dementia charity has also called for diagnostic tests to be carried out on all residents and staff at care homes where 10% of people are known to have Covid-19 – a measure that is not currently in place.
Health Minister Robin Swann has given an assurance that the safety of care home residents is a priority.
Last Friday First Minister Arlene Foster and deputy first minister Michelle O’Neill expressed their sympathies to the bereaved families of care home residents.
First Minister Foster said: “We think particularly of all those who have passed away in care homes and I want to send a very clear message to their families that your precious loved ones will not be forgotten.”
Arlene Foster and Michelle O’Neill
The Public Health Agency said officials are not “currently publishing detailed information relating to individual care homes due to patient confidentiality issues”.
A PHA spokeswoman added: “However, as the situation progresses we hope to be able to produce more in-depth reports, which will include more detail.”
In a meeting later today, Monday, April 20 the Stormont Executive is to focus specifically on care homes and how the sector is coping, amid the pandemic.
At least 32 care homes here have been affected by Covid-19.
First Minister Arlene Foster says testing in care homes is “going to be a priority”.
“It is now the case there is more testing taking place in care homes,” she said.
“I know that people have raised queries in relation to people coming out of hospital and going back into care homes and the need for testing to happen there, and I know that the health minister is very much looking at that.
“At the other end, there’s also people coming in from their own homes to nursing homes.
“We have again tried to work with the independent health workers in the care homes to make sure they have a single point of contact in the trust.”
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