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Coronavirus: Six residents die at Liverpool care home after contracting COVID-19

The Oak Springs care home in Wavertree, Liverpool, which was operating with a quarter of its usual staff numbers due to Covid-19, according to Labour MP Paula Barker.
Six people have died and three are on end of life support after a coronavirus outbreak at Oak Springs care home in Wavertree, Liverpool. (Picture: PA)

Six residents have died and three are on end of life support after a coronavirus outbreak at a care home in Liverpool.

Oak Springs care home in Wavertree has reported the deaths of six residents since Sunday, according to the Liverpool Echo.

Emergency staff were called in to the home earlier this week after its manager said the facility was “desperate for help”, after 48 residents showed symptoms and 50 staff were off sick or isolating.

Andrea Lyon told The Times: “I only have 20 staff left to cover shifts and GPs have refused to visit the home for two weeks now.

“We had to call 999 to get an ambulance crew to confirm the deaths on Sunday. The undertakers didn’t want to take the bodies at first and we had to wait until the coroner gave them reassurances.

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“I need staff and medical support urgently. I’m asking for retired medical practitioners, nurses and care staff for help. If you’ve volunteered to support the NHS but haven’t yet been put to work, we have vulnerable elderly people here desperate for your support.”

On Wednesday, a spokesman for Liverpool City Council said it had helped to secure agency staff and support had been provided by the infection control team.

A member of staff outside The Oak Springs care home in Wavertree, Liverpool, which was operating with a quarter of its usual staff numbers due to Covid-19, according to Labour MP Paula Barker.
Emergency staff were called to the home after its own staff numbers were reduced by sickness, leaving it struggling to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak. (Picture: PA)

The council’s director of public health Matthew Ashton said: “One of the key pressure points is care homes.

“Up and down the country, care homes, by their nature, have vulnerable people living in them and they need to be protected.

“We will try and find support in the system for staffing or advice and guidance for their own staff and management.”

Cabinet member for adult social care and health, Councillor Paul Brant added: “The city council has been supporting care homes and home care providers in the city since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak.

“We have also been coordinating mutual aid through our NHS commissioners and providers and supporting the sector through planning to meet personal protective equipment requirements, recruiting new staff into the sector, coordinating agency resource, helping with infection control and providing a wide range of advice every day.”

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