Health Secretary Matt Hancock focused on the social care sector in Wednesday’s Coronavirus press conference from Downing Street.
Mr Hancock announced the introduction of a single ‘brand’ for social care, adding that he wants to ensure that carers get the same sort of priority treatment as NHS staff do in some settings, such as in supermarkets. Speaking at the press conference, Mr Hancock reminded people that the clap so many people have been doing is a ‘clap for our carers’, not just a clap for the NHS.
The announcement follows similar measures announced in Wales on Tuesday.
Mr Hancock also said that from today, all care home residents returning from a hospital will be tested for COVID-19 before they are admitted to the care home.
The Health Secretary also said that he wants to give people the right to say goodbye, adding that he had been upset by stories of people dying without someone by their side. He said that, as a father of a 13-year-old, he wept when he heard about Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab who dyed on his own at the age of just 13. Mr Hancock said that he wants to ensure that “closest loved ones” will be able to be with people dying after contracting COVID-19 wherever possible, saying that the government was working to introduce procedures to allow this.
Photo Credit: Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street under licence (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
