I am pleased that care homes which became defacto a diversionary opportunity for some acute care settings in the first round of the pandemic are now being treated in a better and more reasonable way. This article tells us:
The health secretary, Matt Hancock, has announced an almost doubling of the infection control fund for care homes in England in an attempt to stop mobile temporary staff spreading Covid-19 in the coming months. But care providers have warned the cash injection could be rendered redundant if testing and supplies of protective equipment falter.
Care operators used a £600m fund set up in May to hire extra permanent staff, pay workers’ wages when they were self-isolating and to buy up exclusivity among agency staff. It was due to wind up this month but Hancock has responded to campaigning from the care sector and added £546m to keep it running until March 2021.
The move, reported on Wednesday by the Guardian, comes amid a rise in infections in care homes, albeit from a low level, with higher numbers of staff testing positive than residents and in most cases, without virus symptoms.