UK to announce return of visits to relatives in care homes

LONDON (Reuters) - British health secretary Matt Hancock said on Thursday he will spell out soon how people will be able to visit relatives in care homes, in a further easing of the coronavirus lockdown.

"In the next few days we will be setting out how COVID-secure visiting can happen in care homes, how we can have more visits of loved ones in a way that is very careful and in a way that keeps care homes safe," he told ITV News.

Britain has one of the world's highest death tolls from COVID-19 at more than 44,000, with around 20,000 dying in care homes, according to government statistics.

(Reporting by Andy Bruce; editing by Stephen Addison)