UK Covid inquiry urges stronger care home protections

The UK Covid-19 Inquiry says care-home residents suffered inadequate protection early in the pandemic and severe harm from visiting restrictions, and has called for changes to protect residents in future emergencies. In its report on adult social care, the inquiry said the claim that a protective ring had been put around care homes from the start did not reflect the lack of action in March and the first half of April 2020. The report said residents were left insufficiently protected, including when patients were discharged from hospitals without knowing whether they had Covid-19. More than 43,000 deaths involving Covid-19 were recorded in UK care homes between March 2020 and July 2022, according to the report. The figure counts deaths involving the virus, not deaths attributed solely to it. The inquiry found that visiting restrictions caused residents and their loved ones incalculable harm. Residents experienced isolation and a sense of abandonment, and restrictions often contributed to declines in health and wellbeing, particularly among people with complex cognitive conditions such as dementia. Some people were unable to be with loved ones who were dying, the report said,...