Coronavirus: Care home outbreaks 'affect all' residents

Care homes should assume all their residents have coronavirus if there has been an outbreak, according to Welsh Government advisors.

A panel of scientists said it was often difficult to isolate residents with symptoms "without causing distress".

The report is by the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) which advises the Welsh Government on its coronavirus response.

It was submitted the day before a blanket testing policy was announced for all care homes in Wales.

More than 11,600 people have died from coronavirus in care homes across the UK during the pandemic, figures suggest.

TAG said it was not always possible to isolate residents with symptoms "without causing harm or distress".

"Therefore, if an outbreak already exists in a care home, there is a need to assume that everyone has the virus and act accordingly, regardless of whether mass testing is applied," it said.

Coronavirus testing will be extended to all care home residents and staff in Wales, the Welsh Government has announced.

But TAG said the value of this testing will "decrease over time from the point of the outbreak being identified".

It also said it would be "valuable to test in selected homes" that appear to be free of the virus, to find out if anyone has been infected without displaying symptoms.

Ministers have since promised that swabs will be available for residents and staff at all homes.

The TAG report also pointed to the risk of infection posed by agency staff.

"There is some evidence that staff working in more than one care home at a time will increase the risk of infection," it said.