Coronavirus: NI health minister announces an £11.7m package for care homes

Health Minister Robin Swann has announced a further £11.7m in funding to support care homes.

The money will be used to help pay staff when off on sick leave, provide extra support for cleaning costs and to purchase specialist equipment.

It will also be used to support the widespread use of tablet devices in care homes.

These will help residents communicate with families in the continuing absence of visits.

"Care homes remain at the forefront of our battle against the virus and it is essential that they are provided with as much support as possible," Mr Swann said.

"I keep reminding everyone that the threat from coronavirus is far from over and this certainly applies to our care homes."

More than half of coronavirus-related deaths in Northern Ireland have happened in care homes, according to official figures released last week.

Mr Swann, speaking at the coronavirus briefing on Tuesday, said the threat would be "with us on a long-term basis" and that it was "vital that we learn lessons from the devastating experiences in care homes not just here, but internationally".

The minister also confirmed that about 50% of staff and residents have now been tested for Covid-19 as part of a testing programme covering all homes in Northern Ireland.

He also revealed that a rapid learning initiative is also being set up to identify lessons from care home experiences of Covid-19.

"We owe it to those who lost their lives in care homes and their families to learn and implement lessons," said Mr Swann.

"Northern Ireland is far from unique in experiencing these tragedies. One life lost is one too many and a matter of great regret."

About £2m of the extra funding will be used to purchase equipment including thermometers and pulse oximeters - to enable recording of clinical observations.

This will help with early identification of a wider range of Covid-19 symptoms that may indicate an infection and allow for prompt clinical responses.

On the future reform of the care home sector, the minister said he was looking at ways of improving accountability, and to be able to monitor those care homes which repeatedly fall short of the regulatory standards

Mr Swann also expressed concern that the compliance of the restrictions is starting to "fray" for some people, pointing to the large gatherings of people at some beauty spots and beaches in recent days.

He appealed to the public not to flout the regulations but he also rejected calls for police to be given more power to deal with those who break the rules.

Earlier on Tuesday, TUV leader Jim Allister called for the 2m social distancing rule to be included in legislation, but Mr Swan said it would only add to the pressure on police.

While the 2m rule is included in guidelines which accompany the legislation, it is not part of the law.