BORIS Johnson and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer are in a furious row today about guidance which warned the risk of coronavirus in care homes was “unlikely”.
Labour accused the PM of misleading MPs today when Boris denied it was in official Government documents.
Sir Keir Starmer accused the Government of being too slow to act on coronavirus in care homes
No10 has claimed Sir Keir misquoted the guidance from February
Mr Johnson denied the guidance had downplayed the risk of COVID-19 in care homes in Prime Minister’s Questions today.
Sir Keir told MPs that guidance that was in place until March 13 said: “It remains very unlikely that people receiving care in a care home will become infected.”
He asked: “Does the Prime Minister accept that the Government was too slow to protect people in care homes?”
The Prime Minister responded: “No Mr Speaker it wasn’t true that the advice said that, and actually we brought the lockdown in care homes ahead of the general lockdown.”
“What we’ve seen is a concerted action plan to tackle what has unquestionably been an appalling epidemic in care homes.”
He added: “Yes it is absolutely true that the number of casualties has been too high but I can tell the House, as I told (Sir Keir) last week and indeed this week, the number of outbreaks is down and the number of fatalities in care homes is now well down.”
The official guidance on the Government’s website, which was first published on February 25, read: “This guidance is intended for the current position in the UK where there is currently no transmission of COVID-19 in the community.
“It is therefore very unlikely that anyone receiving care in a care home or the community will become infected. This is the latest information and will be updated shortly.”
It was withdrawn on March 13.
The PM also pledged an extra £600 million to fighting coronavirus in care homes and controlling new infections.
Sir Keir wrote to the Prime Minister demanding a retraction of his claims the guidance did not say that.
He wrote: “At this time of national crisis, it is more important than ever that Government ministers are accurate in the information they give.
“Given this, I expect you (Mr Johnson) to come to the House of Commons at the earliest opportunity to correct the record and to recognise that this was official Government guidance regarding care homes.”
The PM’s press secretary said:”What the leader of the opposition has done is inaccurately and selectively quote from the PHE guidance… he didn’t acknowledge the guidance would be updated.”
“He concedes he did not accurately quote from the PHE guidance, so no (the PM will not correct the record).”
10,000 unexplained deaths
Sir Keir also slammed the PM for 10,000 “unexplained” excess deaths in care homes which were not labelled as COVID-19 last month, demanding details on how those people died.
He said: “I want to probe the figures the Prime Minister has given us a little bit further.
“The ONS records the average number of deaths in care homes each month. For the last five years, the average for April has been just over 8,000.
“This year, the number of deaths in care homes in April was a staggering 26,000. That’s three times the average, 18,000 additional deaths this April.
“Using the Government’s figures, only 8,000 are recorded as Covid-19 deaths, that leaves 10,000 additional and unexplained care home deaths this April.
“Now I know the Government must have looked into this, so can the Prime Minister give us the Government’s views on these unexplained deaths?”
‘Known’ coronavirus cases sent into care homes
Sir Keir Starmer quoted a cardiologist who said: “We discharged known, suspected and unknown cases into care homes which were unprepared with no formal warning that patients were infected, no testing was available, and no (personal protective equipment)… we actively seeded this into the very population that is the most vulnerable.”
In guidance published April 2, hospitals were told to “clarify with care homes the COVID-19 status of an individual and any COVID-19 symptoms” when transferring patients from hospitals to care homes.
But it said: “Negative tests are not required prior to transfers”.
Mr Johnson said: “since the care homes action plan began we are seeing an appreciable and substantial reduction not just in the number of outbreaks, but also in the number of deaths.”
But the same week the care home action plan was published on April 15, over 7,000 people died from coronavirus in care homes, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.
