Coronavirus: Seven residents at care home die after contracting COVID-19

Seven residents at a care home in east London have died after contracting coronavirus.

Hawthorn Green Residential and Nursing Home, in Stepney Green, confirmed the residents had died three weeks after the home had its first confirmed case of COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus.

One of the victims was Jamshad Ali, who is believed to have previously been a tailor for fashion company Burberry.

All of the patients who died also had multiple, chronic, underlying health conditions.

A total of 21 residents are also showing at least one sign of COVID-19 out of 48 residents who are currently in the 60 capacity care home.

A further 12 workers at the care home are self-isolating, with seven of them either having symptoms themselves or their family members showing symptoms.

The care home employs 114 people.

Each worker has been supplied with PPE (personal protective equipment) to ensure the safety of the other residents and staff, a spokesman for Hawthorn Green said.

Proper hand-washing techniques and additional training for staff is taking place, he added.

Staff at the care home are remaining in contact with NHS and all relevant bodies to follow advice and procedures regarding infection control and barrier nursing.

The spokesman told Sky News: “We wish to send our sincerest condolences to the family of Mr Ali who passed away last month. Mr Ali was a much-loved member of Hawthorn Green Care Home and he will be greatly missed – our hearts go out to his family.

“Like many care homes across the UK, Hawthorn Green is now caring for residents who are symptomatic with COVID-19.

“We set a very low threshold for implementing our protocols and immediately upon detecting either a high temperature, a cough, shortness of breath or any combination of these each resident is cared for in isolation in accordance with strict infection control measures. Currently, we have been advised that testing is not available in care homes in England.

“During this challenging time, we have been communicating regularly and openly with all families regarding COVID-19. As soon as we were aware of the first suspected cases we wrote to families and staff that very same day and again when a resident tested positive in hospital.”

It comes as three residents from a care home in Bexleyheath, south east London, have also died in hospital after contracting COVID-19.

The residents, from Maples Care Home, had been admitted for illnesses not related to COVID-19 but then tested positive for the virus during their stay in hospital.

A spokeswoman for the care home said there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the care home for both staff and residents.

A total of nine people have died at the care home over the past six weeks, but none of them were suspected of having COVID-19. Six were on end of life care.

The spokeswoman added: “The health and well-being of our residents is our absolute priority.

“We are monitoring residents and colleagues closely for symptoms of COVID-19 and have put in place a number of measures to safeguard our residents, including asking that non-essential visitors do not visit the home and implementing our comprehensive and robust infection control processes.

“We continue to work alongside Public Health England and the NHS to keep our residents and colleagues well during this time.”

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NHS England announced on Wednesday another 828 patients have died in hospital after contracting the illness.

The total number of deaths stands at 6,483.

The latest figures count newly-confirmed deaths of hospital patients who have COVID-19, reported up until 5pm on Tuesday.

They were aged between 22 and 103, and 46 (aged 35 to 96) had no known underlying health conditions.

(c) Sky News 2020: Coronavirus: Seven residents at care home die after contracting COVID-19