On holiday but on procedures in care homes: in my experience following this story from start of crisis there was actually a lot of concern about asymptomatic transmission in the care sector- that’s why care homes wanted more testing and decent PPE, which weren’t always available.

The possibility of asymptomatic infection was one of the first things I heard about from care managers in Hove in late March. There was a great deal of concern about agency care staff going from home to home and spreading the disease. That hasn’t really been addressed.

Here is the piece from Newsnight from April 2nd which lays out all of these issues. It’s also clear from this that there was very little sense of strong guidance from the centre- the focus was v much on NHS.

It’s also worth saying that, as we’ve reported many times these last months, it isn’t just about asymptotic infection. There are carers who have symptoms but feel they have to ignore them because they can’t afford to be on Statutory Sick Pay. This hasn’t been addressed either.

Here’s my report on that subject from May 6th. These issues have been well known for a long time.