All confirmed covid deaths linked to care homes

Friday 17 April 2020

All nine of the Bailiwick's confirmed covid-related deaths were residents in care homes, with positive cases now recorded in four local homes.

Three out of the four 'presumptive deaths', which are believed to have been linked to the virus, also came from clusters in the care homes.

While the situation in most of the facilities has stabilised, one of the homes is still working to get it under control. 30 of its patients have tested positive for corona virus, along with 27 members of staff, including those who were sent in to help from Health & Social Care.

"Our care workers are putting themselves in harm's way here," said Medical Director for Health & Social Care, Dr Peter Rabey. "Despite those people being trained in PPE, it just shows that sort of environment can cause problems."

Pictured: Dr Peter Rabey.

Of the other care homes, two have been affected in a very minor way with just one or two positive cases, while the third has seen 16 residents and 19 staff test positive, but has now stabilised the situation.

"I think we’ve done just about as well as we could have done with the care homes," continued Dr Rabey. "Other jurisdictions have not taken anything like the approach to care homes that we have. We have tested and we have supported and we have put in PPE and we have put in staff.

"We’ve got a lot to be proud of in the way people have responded in those care homes - the staff in the care homes and the staff who have gone in to help. Also, I’m really proud of the amount of testing we have done."

Guernsey's Public Health team has decided to take a slightly different approach to care homes, compared to some other jurisdictions who haven't been so proactive.

Pictured: HSC staff have been called in to support the care homes. (file image).

"The care homes, to some extent, have really been the front line in this story for Guernsey so far, in a way that perhaps we didn’t anticipate when we anticipated that the hospital would be the frontline," commented Deputy Gavin St Pier. "That’s a great credit to the strategy. It’s a great credit to the effectiveness of the measures that we have put in place, that we’ve been able to contain it to a number of hotspots.

"Peter has highlighted a really important point about how differently the care homes are treated as part of a whole healthcare approach in Guernsey, compared to other jurisdictions - particularly the UK, where it’s obvious that the care homes have really been left to just get on with it. That is a chicken which is now coming home to roost and is part of the public dialogue at the moment."

There is also a difference in the island's testing strategy, with some days seeing more than 100 tests taken.

"When we have cases within a care home we do go in and do wide ranging testing," said Director of Public Health, Dr Nicola Brink. "So, in the two care homes that have been badly affected, we have tested all of the residents and all of the staff members - that's completely different to the UK strategy.

Pictured: Dr Nicola Brink.

"What we’ve also done with the care homes is looked at the symptomatology that the people in care homes are presenting with. It’s entirely atypical, so they might get a cough towards the end, but some of the early symptoms that we see are for example loose stools, vague low grade fevers, not quite themselves, dementia worsening - those less well recognised features of covid-19.

"What we’re now doing is using that information to test really promptly and early if we have the remotest suspicion." 

HSC staff are still working to support the one local care home which is struggling to get its corona virus situation under control.

"I’m really proud of the way Guernsey has dealt with the care homes position," added Dr Rabey. "We have been honest about it, we have been doing the testing and the data is out there for people to look at.

"We keep a really close eye on it - we will continue to do that - but it just emphasises to me the importance of those restrictions that we put in place."