Coronavirus: Ten deaths at Stafford nursing home in four weeks

Ten residents at a nursing home specialising in dementia care have died with coronavairus within four weeks.

The first death at Limewood Nursing and Residential Home in Stafford was recorded on 24 April. In addition to the 10 deaths, a further nine residents have coronavirus.

It means in all about a third of Limewood's 59 residents have been affected.

The home said it had been "a difficult few weeks".

The first death came weeks after the pandemic drove the UK to lockdown measures, and the home said the source of Covid-19 there was unclear.

It said the first resident to die had visited County Hospital in Stafford as an emergency case - not involving the virus - before returning to the home.

Three residents had visited hospital before returning to Limewood and testing positive for Covid-19.

The first of the home's patients to die had returned from treatment at County Hospital in Stafford

Limewood, which also specialises in end-of-life care, had not been accepting new residents since 27 March.

In a statement the home said staff were in regular contact with Public Health England (PHE) and were adhering to guidelines for care home cases.

It said: "We did have residents hospitalised for non-Covid-19-related issues in April. They initially appeared wholly asymptomatic on their return to Limewood.

"Once mild symptoms were displayed, we implemented holistic testing across every resident and member of staff."

A spokesperson for University Hospitals of North Midlands, which runs County Hospital, said: "There is government and PHE guidance available regarding discharge of residents back to care homes during the current pandemic, which we follow.

"We are also working closely with our local authority partners to ensure the highest standards of safe care for our patients discharged into the community."