Over 12,500 people died of Covid-19 in England's care homes, says ONS data

MORE than 12,500 deaths of care home residents in Britain were linked to the coronavirus, according to figures released Friday, heaping further pressure on the government over its handling of the pandemic.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said 12,526 care home residents in England and Wales had died from the virus in March and April, with nearly three-quarters occurring within homes and the rest in hospitals.

However, the ONS suggested the actual death toll of care home residents could be far higher, noting it had recorded 23,136 more fatalities in the first four months of the year than in the same period in 2019.

Asked if they had done enough to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in care homes, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said all residents would be soon be tested for Covid-19.

"We will test all residents and employees of our retirement homes in England between now and early June," said Health Minister Matt Hancock at the British government's daily press briefing.

Britain has the second-highest Covid-19 death toll in the world, according to official data, although the government has argued that global comparisons are fraught given different countries' reporting methods.

The ONS and regional health bodies reported earlier this week they had registered 36,473 deaths from or mentioning the virus up until May 1 -- a tally second only to the United States.

The figures also indicated that Britain's excess mortality, which experts have said is the truest indicator of the virus' impact, was close to 50,000.

Department of Health figures say there have been 33,614 deaths of people who had tested positive for the virus.

Ministers and scientific advisers say a true picture of the extent of the outbreak will not emerge for months.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government has been criticised for its response to the outbreak, particularly in relation to care homes, with accusations they have been abandoned during the pandemic.

Opposition parties and whistleblowers in the care sector have said hospitals allowed patients to be discharged from hospital into homes without adequate testing to determine if they had the virus.

There has been persistent criticism carers were not given adequate personal protective equipment and that the sector was ill-prepared for the pandemic.

Labour leader Keir Starmer drew attention to the issue on Wednesday, noting guidance from health officials which remained in place until mid-March said it was "very unlikely" care homes would be impacted by the virus.

The Daily Telegraph reported on Friday that the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) was examining if human rights laws were breached by hospitals discharging older patients into care homes.

The government has insisted it had adequately supported the sector throughout the crisis, though Johnson admitted that there was "more to do".

Furthermore, campaigners for the welfare of elderly people urged the UK government to be more transparent after they were not informed that coronavirus deaths were happening in the care homes.

The health secretary said would look into care homes' approach to making coronavirus deaths public, after authorities declined to disclose the number of deaths in individual care homes.

"I didn't know about that and it's certainly something that I'd like to look into because our overall approach in this is that transparency is the best way forward," Hancock said at the daily Downing Street briefing.