Covid-19: Fourteen covid-related deaths at Glengormley care home
- Published
Fourteen people from one County Antrim care home have died from Covid-19 related symptoms, the BBC has learned.
The patients were residents of Glenabbey Manor in Glengormley.
However, as there is no clear breakdown of figures relating to deaths or confirmed cases in individual care homes, it is not clear whether Glenabbey is the worst affected in NI.
NI's health minister has said care homes were now the front line in the fight against the virus.
While the number of hospital admissions due to coronavirus was falling since 16 March, there had been 125 acute respiratory outbreaks in care homes, Robin Swann said on Tuesday.
Seventy-two of those were confirmed as Covid-19 clusters and the remainder were flu-related, said Mr Swann, adding:
An additional funding of £6.5m had been provided to help the care home sector
A pilot contact tracing programme went live last week and there are plans to scale it up further by mid-May
'Sincere condolences'
Figures show that in the week from 18-24 April, 58% of all Covid-19 related deaths were reported to have happened in care homes.
Glenabbey Manor, which is owned by Runwood Homes, confirmed on Tuesday that five residents who had tested positive for Covid-19 had died at the home.
Another five residents had died in hospital, while a further four passed away either at home or in the hospital, but were only suspected of having Covid-19, the company told BBC News NI.
Runwood Homes expressed its sincere condolences to the families and friends affected.
But the BBC understands that at least 109 homes are now caring for vulnerable older people with coronavirus or flu-like symptoms which are logged each day in care homes' forms about virus activity.
Meanwhile, there have been calls for a rolling programme of testing, with the Commissioner for Older People, Eddie Lynch, calling for universal testing of all care homes.
- Published1 May 2020
