The heart-rending impact of coronavirus on communal care homes has been revealed with the release of figures showing deaths and infections.

Up to Tuesday morning, 23 Jewish Care residents had died after testing positive for Covid-19.

Manchester’s main welfare charity, The Fed, reported seven coronavirus deaths at its Heathlands Village.

There have additionally been seven deaths at the Jewish Choice home in Wembley and other providers have also recorded fatalities.

The true number is likely to be much higher given the cases of residents who died having displayed Covid-19-type symptoms but whose cause of death was not given as coronavirus.

In a statement to the JC, Jewish Care said ten of those who died were residents of Anita Dorfman House in Stanmore. Four were from Vi and John Rubens House in Redbridge, three from both Lady Sarah Cohen House in Friern Barnet and Otto Schiff in Golders Green, two from Sidney Corob House in Fortune Green and one from the Kun Mor and George Kiss Home in Friern Barnet.

The charity also reported that 14 clients receiving social work support in the wider community had died after testing positive for the virus.

On an encouraging note, 13 of 18 residents/tenants with Covid-19 “have returned to us from hospital and are recovering well. Furthermore, across our homes, 24 of our residents are showing Covid-19-like symptoms [they have not been tested] and are receiving treatment in our homes in accordance with Public Health England guidelines.

“To date, a small number of staff from our care homes have been tested and this will hopefully increase in the next few weeks.”

Its supplies of personal protective equipment were “sufficient” for current needs “and we continue to build up that stock. All PPE we are providing is of a government-approved standard.”

Like other welfare charities, Jewish Care also faces the problem of employee availability.

“At the moment, 20 per cent of staff working in our care homes are having to self-isolate. This includes staff who are unwell, suspected of having the virus, live in households where someone is unwell, or are in a high-risk group and are shielding themselves. If staff are off because they are unwell, they cannot return to work until they have isolated for the appropriate number of days according to government guidelines.”

At The Fed, fundraising director Raphi Bloom reported that 60 employees from a workforce of 380 were currently self-isolating. “Staff are doing overtime but we are also having to use agency staff, which adds to our financial burden.”

Because of its number of employees, The Fed cannot reclaim sick pay from the government, a situation he found “incredibly bizarre”.

Mr Bloom praised the frontline care workers as “heroes. They are showing love, dedication and respect at a very challenging time.

“The people we have lost are like family to the staff, who have looked after them for many years. It’s devastating for them.”

Despite generous donations of PPE from the Manchester community, the charity was spending an additional £20,000-plus monthly on protective items, although Mr Bloom hoped the money would eventually be recovered from the local authority.

“We have just managed to procure enough PPE to last two months, which will be a great source of comfort to staff and residents.”

Jewish Choice chief executive Pauline Peake said the virus had hit the home “quick and hard”. None of the current 44 residents were displaying symptoms and were “coping well”. Most staff who had self-isolated had returned to work and she praised Brent Council for both supplying PPE and sending in care staff.

At Nightingale House in Clapham, where 10 per cent of residents are aged 100 or over, chief executive Helen Simmons paid tribute to the “superhuman” effort of her team.
“We are immensely proud of them and have received incredible feedback from our residents’ families.”

Two residents have died after testing positive with Covid-19. Another has returned from hospital “and is recovering well”.

There are also “a single-digit number of residents who are showing Covid-19-like symptoms [they have not been tested] and are being cared for at Nightingale House”.

At the moment 10 per cent of staff are having to self-isolate. “We were at 23 per cent of staff off two weeks ago. It meant we were reliant on a lot of overtime from some staff and also redeploying staff internally to help the frontline, which was fantastic to see.

“But at ten per cent staff off we are able to manage. The nice thing is that other staff are still coming in and helping at meal times voluntarily.”

As a small token of appreciation, “we have been giving them small gifts every ‘thankful Thursday’ for their above and beyond efforts. They’ve had chocolate and biscuits and we are planning to do toiletries and possibly wine in the coming weeks.”

Two residents of the Belong Morris Feinmann home in Manchester with underlying health conditions have died from the virus.

“Our hearts go out to their families,” said the deputy chief executive of Belong, Tracy Paine. The two were among five residents with Covid-19. One had recovered, the other two were stable in hospital. 
“We continue to monitor all other residents at the village closely for symptoms.”

Philip Ettinger, trustee of the Stapely care home in Liverpool, said it was possible that “a very small number” of residents had died from coronavirus, having exhibited symptoms. But they had not been tested.

“We are fighting for every one of our residents,” he said.

Norwood has reported the death of an 87-year-old resident at one of its London homes from coronavirus. The charity mourned the passing “of one of its beloved family members”.

In general, “staff absences continue to put pressure on our services. But over the past few days we have had an increased number of previously absent staff returning to work, as well as the deployment of our first newly-recruited assistant support workers, including some head office staff taking on new roles.”

Dr Robert Ross, chair of trustees at Leeds’ Donisthorpe Hall, said that up to a quarter of staff were off work and replacing them was “very expensive as agencies charge up to twice the standard rate. Only a tiny amount of PPE has been sent by the NHS and it’s expensive for us to buy on the open market.”