Britain's biggest care providers have been denied coronavirus tests even as the disease has ravaged some of their homes, it emerged last night.

Three major care home firms told the Mail no staff or residents had been tested despite a spate of deaths from suspected outbreaks.

One boss said it was 'almost impossible' to follow official advice and isolate sufferers without knowing who was infected.

There have been at least 40 virus-related deaths in UK care homes, but the lack of testing means experts can't know the true scale of the crisis or how many residents and workers already have the illness.

Britain's biggest care providers have been denied coronavirus tests even as the disease has ravaged some of their homes, it emerged last night (stock image)

One care worker told how staff lived in fear of catching the virus and passing it to their families or those they look after.

The mother of three, who works in a home for dementia sufferers, said: 'None of us has been tested and we have very little access to protective equipment.

'We are like cannon fodder. We are being made to risk our lives and the lives of our loved-ones for £8.37 an hour.'

Don't criticise 'Die At Home' advice to elderly, Tories told Controversy: Morecambe GP Andy Knox Tory MPs have been told not to criticise doctors advising the elderly they may be better off dying at home than going to hospital if they get coronavirus. It came amid claims that residents of some care homes have been asked to sign 'do not resuscitate' forms in the event of becoming ill with Covid-19. Many doctors have stepped up palliative care plans for terminally ill patients to prepare for the virus's peak in the coming weeks. But some Conservative MPs say it will needlessly frighten the elderly and those at 'high risk' from the disease. They claim the approach is being driven partly by the lack of intensive care hospital beds. The Daily Mail understands the Government is backing a British Medical Association campaign for GPs to be 'upfront' and have 'difficult conversations' with the elderly if the death toll continues to rise. But some Tories have questioned the plan. One MP said: 'If the Government thinks it is OK for elderly people to be leant on to die at home instead of being kept alive, they should say so publicly.' The disclosure came amid fears the NHS will be unable to treat everyone hit by the virus, as the death toll rose above 4,000 yesterday. Those most at risk will be urged to draw up a coronavirus emergency plan, stating in advance if they want to be put on a ventilator or resuscitated if they have a heart failure. A Whitehall source told the Mail ministers are 'ready to support the BMA approach'. However, some MPs and religious groups claim the guidance is akin to 'assisted dying' – currently illegal in Britain – and are worried at the implications of using it on a large scale. The controversy surfaced last week when the Mail reported how Lancashire doctor Andy Knox made a film asking high-risk patients if they wanted to refuse hospital treatment for coronavirus and die at home. By Simon Walters Advertisement

One group boss said GPs had stopped visiting care homes, adding: 'You just feel completely abandoned.'

Government guidance published last week said it would 'aim to offer more comprehensive testing' to the sector when 'capacity increases'.

But some big care chains say they have not had a single test, with staff simply being advised to isolate suspected cases at the home.

FSHC runs more than 200 homes, but has had no tests for residents or staff, with none at one home, Burlington House in Glasgow, where 13 residents died from a suspected outbreak in just one week.

Half its 13,000 staff are self-isolating, and two have tested positive in hospital.

MHA, which runs 222 sites, has had nine Covid-19 resident deaths.

None of its 6,000 residents or 8,000 staff have been tested. More than one in ten staff are isolating.

Colten Care, which has 21 nursing homes in Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire and Sussex, has had three residents admitted to hospital for other health reasons.

While in hospital, however, they tested positive for Covid-19 and died, although their deaths are not thought to have been related to coronavirus.

The group still has no access to testing for its staff or other residents.

Staff at Shedfield Lodge Residential Care Home in Southampton are sleeping in caravans outside to protect their families after a resident died from coronavirus. They have not been given any tests.

The UK's largest care home group, HC-One, said none of the staff at its 320 homes had been tested.

Bupa Care Homes, which operates over 120 sites, said no staff had had access to testing. Government guidance also states that if there is an outbreak in a home, a maximum of five residents can be tested.

Rachel Beckett, chairman of the Wellburn group, which has 14 homes across the North East, said this was 'ludicrous', adding: 'The guidance from Government and regulators has been a disgrace.'

Peter Kyle, MP for Hove, said: 'It feels like the entire care system is being swept under the carpet. How is it that the most vulnerable have found themselves at the bottom of the heap?'

Gavin Edwards, of the union Unison, said infected care homes were 'the canaries in the mine'. But Dr Jenny Harries, the deputy chief medical officer for England, insisted last night that testing during outbreaks at care homes was 'happening now'.

She added: 'They are in the prioritised list already, so the groups routinely tested – and have been ever since we have started responding to this incident – include potential outbreaks in care homes. That's been going on from the start.'