Coronavirus 'hit us like a missile,' says care home boss

“It was like nothing you have prepared yourself for. It went from being a care home to being almost like on the frontline in a war.”

Ty Yilmaz is the owner of Cedars Care Group. He also manages one of the company's six care homes.

Mr Yilmaz told the BBC how, in April last year, the virus “hit us like a missile” after they took in a resident who had been discharged from hospital without being tested for Covid-19.

He told our political editor Laura Kuenssberg of the “trauma” he, his staff and residents have faced during the coronavirus pandemic, and the pressures on staff: “The job they came in to do is not there anymore. People don’t appreciate the difficulties they have, they’re not carers any more, they’re family members.”

He said it is “heart breaking” to see what care homes are going through: “It’s devastating. Stopping is not an option. You’re dealing with people’s lives – you don’t stop.”

More than 100,000 people have died with Covid-19 in the UK, after 1,631 deaths within 28 days of a positive test were recorded in the daily figures.