A NURSING home has lost 13 residents to coronavirus - with the disease so contagious that relatives are banned from retrieving jewellery from the dead.

A grieving relative shared the cruel horror after her father perished to Covid-19.

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1 13 residents at one care home in Essex have died due to coronavirus (stock image) Credit: Corbis - Getty

Staff had to zip his body inside a special bag because the bug was so contagious in the Essex home.

Washing bodies to prepare for a funeral is outlawed - with brief memorial services being conducted online.

And in a hammer blow to devastated families, they were not allowed to take jewellery keepsakes from the bodies of the dead.

One lost daughter shared to pals: “Awaiting a call from Waltham Abbey for my Daddy’s burial.

“Later today or poss tomorrow - will only get an hour’s notice.

“This is a major warning to you all.

“My Daddy will be placed in a special bag as he is highly contaminated (this is the hardest ever message I’m going to write).

“No normal customs such as washing of the body.

“Please make your loved ones to remove any jewellery right now and put in a safe place - and tell your family.

CARE HOME WIPE-OUT

“I’m not allowed to have Dad’s wedding ring or Star of David or neck chain as not able to retrieve it.

“I out of the goodness of my heart do not want any of you to go through what I’m going through right now.”

A friend of the grieving family said: “They are speaking out amid their grief to make everyone aware just how desperate the situation is.

“Thirteen dead so far in one nursing home, and the disease is spreading like wildfire. It is crushing for families.

“And to not be able to wash the bodies of their loved ones, or retrieve precious wedding rings to remember their loved ones, is just cruel.

“It is another message for everyone to stay indoors and do their bit to try and beat coronavirus.”

The disease is attacking the old and frail who are now locked in the fight of their lives.

Staffing levels at nursing homes are running dangerously low because nurses are either self-isolating or have been infected themselves.

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There are thought to be more than 1,000 coronavirus deaths in care homes in England alone - but they are not counted in the official figures.

Nurses have described their predicament as a helpless fight on a forgotten frontline.

They are battling against a hidden death toll, with lives being lost in the shadows of this crisis.

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