Sorry, but you are missing the point about care homes
■ Belinda says it was the responsibility of care homes to ensure they had sufficient PPE to cope with the coronavirus (MetroTalk, Thu). It appears she doesn’t know how things work.
Care homes – whether privately run or not – take their advice on what PPE is required or, indeed, advice on any public health requirement, from the government.
So if there’s a virulent form of flu doing the rounds, it’s the government that will know, not care homes, and so it will be the government that advises the care homes on what to do.
Care homes cannot be expected to have held sufficient PPE in stock to cope with such an event as Covid-19 unless advised by the government. And that advice was not forthcoming.
As to those who say, well, why didn’t they buy PPE when it became apparent Covid-19 was serious? The obvious answer is, from where?
The government failed to ensure supply chains were in place, having ignored the recommendations from Exercise Cygnus – a simulation held in 2016 into what would happen if a flu pandemic hit the UK. It may suit your agenda, Belinda, but you can’t stick this one on care homes, I’m afraid. Peter, Suffolk
■ Prime Minister Boris Johnson refuses to apologise for saying some care homes did not follow ‘the correct procedures’ during the pandemic. I’m saddened and disgusted by this.
Boris has realised the huge mistake he has made – that these poor people were forced to transfer from hospitals to care homes without being tested, and that care homes were forced to accept them. He has now compounded his mistake by blaming others. Disgusting. Mary, Cardiff
■ Mr Johnson’s comments on care homes are absolutely disgusting. He should be made to apologise. My fatherin-law is in a care home and the staff are amazing. How they have coped with how the government has treated them I’ll never know. Johnson should be up in court for what he’s done. John Taylor, Walsall
■ It’s not surprising care homes were infected with the virus – they didn’t quarantine each person into their own room at the start of the outbreak.
I live in a block of flats and at the very start we were told we must stay in our own flat, we were not allowed out into the corridors.
The lounges were closed to all and no mixing of people was allowed. As a result, we’ve not had one case of Covid19 and the residents are high risk, at 70 to 100 years old. Care homes could have done the same. Glenis Hopkin, via email
■ Will this prime minister ever take responsibility? We’ve had the Dominic Cummings affair, then Stanley Johnson contravening lockdown and now these insulting comments regarding care homes. Can we ever expect truthful answers? Betty, via email