Pair mark 65 years of love

A LEADING carer called Government plans to delay Covid-19 testing for residents and staff at care homes until early September “an absolute kick in the teeth”.

Ministers had pledged to test all people in care homes throughout summer.

But a leaked memo from Professor Jane Cummings, the Government’s adult social care testing director, to council chiefs told them that “previously advised timelines for rolling out regular testing in care homes” were being altered because of “unexpected delays”.

Nadra Ahmed, executive chairman of the National Care Association, said: “It is an absolute kick in the teeth to all those care staff who have been working really hard to get their services Covid-free.”

Testing was planned to start on July 6 but Prof Cummings said the earliest date by which it would reach all care homes was now September 7.

The Department of Health and Social Care said it was sending 50,000 tests a day to care homes and added: “A combination of factors have meant that a more limited number of testing kits, predominantly used in care homes, are currently available.”

DEVOTED Andy making gift

A COUPLE kept apart during lockdown have reunited to celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary together.

Andy Davidson, 88, gave his wife Margaret, 86, a picture of a heart and told her she looked “really good”. They drank whisky divided by a Perspex screen outside Jesmond Care Home in Aberdeen, where Andy lives.