Revealed: Coronavirus outbreaks at 17 Shropshire care homes
Outbreaks of coronavirus have been reported at 17 care homes in Shropshire Council’s area, the authority has confirmed.
The figures for deaths in care homes linked to Covid-19 were reported for the first time on Tuesday, revealing almost as many people in Shropshire were dying from the virus in care homes as in the county’s hospitals.
Questions over the numbers of care homes cases and deaths were put to Shropshire Council’s leadership at the authority’s first remote cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
Councillor Heather Kidd said knowing the true extent of the disease – and its spread within the county – was vital, as some people in her division still believed it was yet to reach their area.
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Councillor Dean Carroll, portfolio holder for adult services and public health, said: “In line with other areas in the UK, hospital and care home cases remain an area of concern locally.
“Covid-19 is a notifiable disease and as such any cases or suspected cases in care homes or other community settings, are required to be reported to Public Health England (PHE).
“PHE leads a response in care homes supported by the council and local NHS. All homes with cases and outbreaks will continue to be supported by the relevant lead organisations.
“PHE will be publishing the total outbreaks numbers by local authority imminently, the link to this data will be provided as soon as it becomes available.
Confidentiality
“An outbreak is defined as two or more suspected cases in the same setting within a 14-day period.
“This will be published at a local authority level only due to confidentiality and the potential to identify individuals. PHE does not provide a breakdown of reported cases and numbers per home for this reason.
“We can confirm PHE are currently supporting 17 outbreaks in care homes within Shropshire local authority area, as at April 28.”
Questions were also raised by Councillor David Vasmer over what measures were in place in the event that care to residents is compromised as a result of staff self-isolating.
Councillor Carroll assured members that risk management procedures were in place to identify care homes at risk, and support would be provided if necessary.
Councillor Ruth Houghton asked whether extra support was being offered to care home staff who found themselves dealing with far more deaths than they were used to.
Councillor Carroll said that as most care homes in the county were privately owned he would need to speak to providers before compiling a written response.
