Six OAPs in same care home are hit by infection
Six OAPs test positive as Scots Health Secretary says elderly do not need to self-isolate.. yet
SIX residents of a care home have tested positive for coronavirus, it emerged last night.
Highgate Care Home in Uddingston said the six, whose condition was not disclosed, were being monitored.
Dr John Logan, NHS Lanarkshire consultant in public health medicine, said: “We appreciate this is a very worrying time for many people.”
SIX residents at a Scots care home have tested positive for coronavirus.
The residents are being monitored but their condition is unknown.
Highgate Care Home in Uddingston, Lanarkshire, confirmed the cases and said all staff, residents and residents’ families are being informed.
Strict control measures have been implemented at the facility to minimise the risk of spreading the virus further.
Dr John Logan, NHS Lanarkshire consultant in public health medicine, said: “We appreciate this is a very worrying time for many people.
“Highgate Care Home has implemented infection prevention and control measures and the NHS Lanarkshire Health Protection Team will continue to provide advice and support to the care home manager and staff.”
John Kirk, managing director of the care home, said: “The health, safety and wellbeing of our residents and colleagues is of paramount importance. We are committed to doing everything we can to keep them safe.
“We are working closely with all the relevant bodies, including NHS Lanarkshire and Health Protection Scotland, as we implement our comprehensive contingency plan, which includes closing the home to all but absolutely essential visitors, and continuing to take steps to ensure the highest standards of hygiene and infection control.”
The news came as elderly people were told they should not yet self-isolate against the coronavirus by the Scottish Health Secretary Jeane Freeman.
Freeman said the next step for people over 70 would be “asking them to reduce social contact” in an effort to protect them from the rapidly spreading virus.
In a swipe at selective leaks from Downing Street suggesting that older people will be told to isolate for four months, the SNP minister said: “Overnight briefing, background sources is not the way we would do it.”
Freeman expressed the Scottish Government’s frustration after plans on how the UK will step up its response emerged from anonymous briefings.
Amid growing fury over the UK Government’s communications strategy, UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock yesterday confirmed elderly and vulnerable people will be told to stay at home to shield themselves from the coronavirus “in the coming weeks”.
He told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “That is in the action plan, yes, and we will be setting it out with more detail when it is the right time to do so, because we absolutely appreciate that it is a very big ask of the elderly and the vulnerable, and it’s for their own self-protection.”
Freeman said the timing of when to issue the guidance would be discussed at today’s Cobra committee meeting which brings together politicians and experts from all four UK governments. She said: “We are letting the science guide us, and we need to time for these measures to reduce that peak and spread it.”
The UK Government’s communications strategy has come under fire after news of the potential four-month quarantine for the over-70s was first reported in a blog published by ITV’s Robert Peston on Saturday.
Hancock also wrote an article for a national newspaper on the UK Government response that initially was only available to online subscribers instead of releasing the briefing to all outlets.
“This is not a run-of-the-mill political issue. The Scottish Government will set out advice to the public in an orderly manner.”
Experts agree the plan for the over-70s to stay at home will only have limited effect if it is rolled out before the virus is at its height.
The Government fears that prolonged isolation too early in the pandemic will mean that people will come out of selfisolation just when they need to be protecting themselves.
Freeman emphasised the additional measures currently being recommended would be about reducing social contact.
She said: “For those over 70, we’re asking them to reduce their social contact because they are one of the groups who are most at risk of this virus making them seriously ill. The other group is people who have underlying health conditions, whose immune system is suppressed.
“We don’t want people who are elderly to be stuck in their homes alone not contacting anyone, with their families not able to be in touch with them and to help them.
“What were saying to them is, reduce your contact.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon wrote on Twitter: “Giving clear and consistent information to the public at the right time on coronavirus is vital. Governments’ media strategies must reflect the importance of that.