The Green Party has urged the government to issue a clear plan for quarantining and routine testing in care homes to prevent deaths during the Covid-19 outbreak.

The party’s call echoes that of charities to record daily the death toll in care homes. As fatalities in care are outside of the NHS remit, they are not counted within the government’s official Covid-19 death toll.

An announcement today by two of the largest care home providers, HC-One and MHA, reported 521 deaths from coronavirus in recent weeks across their homes, leading to concern that deaths in care homes due to the coronavirus are going unrecorded.

Green Party Co-leader Jonathan Bartley said: “The government has said vulnerable people must be cocooned from this terrible outbreak, yet we have not seen them take anywhere near sufficient action to protect those living in care homes. Ministers cannot be complacent about what is happening. Action must be taken today.

“Carers are being left to try and deal with this themselves, while the people who they have cared for years for are dying in front of their eyes. The government must come forward with a comprehensive plan of testing, provision of PPE and quarantine in order to slow the spread any further.

“The government could allow carers and those with experience and appropriate checks to voluntarily self-isolate within residential homes and provide care for the residents, while also safeguarding the jobs and livelihoods of care workers who are unable to.

“It is unconscionable that the government seems to be doing next to nothing to prevent or even track the spread of coronavirus among older people in care homes, while leaving carers, who are often among the most poorly paid members of society, to risk their lives and deal with this growing crisis by themselves.”