- 30% of Scotland’s private care homes suspected of COVID-19 as people return to work in WUHAN – epicentre of coronavirus
By Andrew Atkinson
Approximately thirty per cent of Scotland’s privately run care homes have suspected cases of coronavirus COVID-19.
Trade body Scottish Care said the impact of the virus on residents alongside staff absence levels of up to 30% had put homes under huge strain.
The news comes amid car workers at a Honda plant in Wuhan, China, have returned to work on assembly lines.
Concerns have been raised over the number of deaths – and adequate protective measures – at care homes.
It is also reported that fears are raised over what has been labelled a ‘Postcode Lottery’ – in testing care workers and residents.
Scottish Care’s members provide the vast majority of Scotland’s 36,000 care home beds, with chief executive Dr Donald Macaskill saying the virus had left the sector facing an unprecedented challenge on every front.
The outbreak has killed several residents at care homes. Information by Scottish Care from its members suggests approximately half of care homes in Scotland have at least one suspected case of coronavirus.
Dr Macaskill said: “80% of people in care homes are there for later stage of life care.
“It is a place where there are, sadly, frequents deaths and we have seen that older people generally are more vulnerable to the virus.”
In WUHAN where the coronavirus COVID-19 epidemic epicentre began workers have returned to work.
People – wearing protective face masks – are working on assembly lines at the Dongfeng Honda plant in Wuhan, China, after the lockdown laws were lifted on April 8.
