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In the face of the coronavirus crisis, every one of us has a responsibility to do everything we can to protect life.

The most vulnerable to this pandemic are the elderly and those with an underlying health condition – and many of these people are most likely to be in the social care system.

That’s why today we are asking the Government to come forward with a clear and comprehensive plan for social care.

The emergency legislation that’s been brought to parliament today makes allowance for standards of care to be lowered to cope with the scale of the coronavirus crisis.

That’s why we need the Government to be do as much as possible now to get more staff and resources into caring for the most vulnerable.

Millions of elderly and disabled people are receiving care at home or live in a care home.

They are looked after by unpaid family carers and care workers.

Without those wonderful carers, many are unable to do the simple things we take for granted, like getting out of bed, getting dressed, and preparing meals.

But the care sector is already in crisis. Austerity cuts have taken £7 billion out of social care budgets since 2010.

We are short of over 120,000 care workers and Age UK says 1.4 million elderly people are not getting the care they need – and that was even before the coronavirus crisis.

That’s why the Government needs to come forward with a plan now.

Six months ago, when Boris Johnson first became Prime Minister, he stood on the steps of Downing Street and declared he had a social care package that would deal with the problems caused by a decade of devastating cuts.

He didn’t. It wasn’t even ready for December’s election, and it hasn’t appeared since.

Now it is urgent, and the Government must have a plan for the most vulnerable members of our society.

They need protection more than any of us.

Just imagine the impact of a coronavirus outbreak in a care home.

What would happen to those living in that home, and what would happen to the staff who look after them?

The Government has begged recently retired NHS staff to return. The same must happen in social care.

Chronic low pay in the care sector (many are paid just the minimum wage) means many staff leave for less stressful jobs in retail and other sectors. Those workers need to come back.

Over the weekend we have heard further stories from NHS staff – even doctors working in intensive care units – who do not have the necessary personal protective equipment to keep them safe.

Those supplies need to get through fast, and then domiciliary care workers, who travel from home to home caring for elderly and disabled people, urgently need it too.

It is a similar story with testing. Care workers must be a priority for testing, so that those who test positive can self-isolate, and those who have been self-isolating can return to work if they test negative.

Many care workers are part-time or on zero hours contracts.

Some won’t be eligible for Statutory Sick Pay, so it is vital that the Government acts to ensure all vital workers are covered.

Now the Health & Social Care Secretary, Matt Hancock, has admitted he could not survive on the pitiful £94 per week that SSP pays, the Government must also increase its level to that of a full-time job on the living wage.

We cannot afford to have people struggling into work with coronavirus symptoms because they can’t afford not to – especially those working with sick and disabled people whose immune systems are compromised.

But spare a thought too for elderly people who rely on a family carer coming in to visit them every day.

What if that family carer has to self-isolate? Who will care for elderly people living alone in their own home?

Now is the time finally to raise the insultingly low level of Carer’s Allowance.

If Matt Hancock can’t survive on £94 per week, why are we expecting the 1.3 million family carers in this country to live on just £66 a week?

Local councils need extra resources immediately to recruit staff and pay wages.

More than ever before we need more care needs met for vulnerable people. And we need higher standards, not lower.

It was reported yesterday that a senior aide to the Prime Minister had told colleagues in February we must develop ‘herd immunity’ and “if that means some pensioners die, too bad”.

That is not the type of society we want for our elderly and most vulnerable.

I hope a more compassionate and sensible position is now being taken in Downing Street.

But unless the Government takes urgent action now on social care, the reality is that many thousands of elderly people are at risk – not just from coronavirus, but from wider neglect, as services struggle to cope.