The Telegraph
Outbreaks of Covid-19 in care homes have more than trebled in a month, with levels of infections now similar to the peak of the first wave, figures show. The latest surveillance data from Public Health England (PHE) reveals that, in the week to January 14, there was the second highest weekly total since records began in April. On Thursday night, senior figures said the numbers were "shocking" and warned: "Care homes cannot be neglected again." It came as the Government closed Britain's borders to Portugal and South America amid fears over a new strain of the virus from Brazil. Ministers had pledged that all care home residents would be vaccinated by the end of this month, but The Telegraph has been told the care home rollout is taking longer than the Government had anticipated. Sources said only 100 residents could be vaccinated in the time it took to administer jabs to 1,000 people in the community. On Thursday night, PHE said more than one third of people aged over 80 in England had been vaccinated, accounting for 56 per cent of the 2,371,407 vaccinations given up to January 10. Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, has said 25 per cent of older care home residents have received the jab, up from the previous figure of 10 per cent cited by Boris Johnson last week.
Yahoo News
