Coronavirus: All nine Guernsey deaths from care homes

Medical director Dr Peter Rabey he was "proud" of the support given to the care homes

All nine of Guernsey's coronavirus deaths are linked to island care homes, the States has confirmed.

Medical director Dr Peter Rabey said four care homes on the island had been affected by Covid-19.

Two of these had "significant numbers" of patients, while the other two have only had minor outbreaks.

The worst affected has had 30 patients and 27 staff diagnosed with the virus, including two external support workers sent in to help.

One of the nine people who died had been transferred to the Princess Elizabeth Hospital prior to their death.

Dr Rabey said: "Our nurses and care workers are putting themselves in harm's way here.

"Despite those people being trained in [personal protective equipment]... it just shows how that sort of environment can cause problems."

He added recent transmission of the virus at the worst affected home had slowed, but it was still "an awful lot of patients for one care home".

• A SIMPLE GUIDE: How do I protect myself?

• VIDEO: The 20-second hand wash

• WHAT DOES IT DO TO THE BODY? Doctors on the front line explain

• HOW A VIRUS SPREADS: An explanation

• WHAT IS A PANDEMIC? The WHO's definition

The other badly affected home, with 16 residents and 19 staff testing positive, had managed to "stabilise" the situation, Dr Rabey said.

He added he was "proud" of the support the States has given to affected homes.

"Other jurisdictions have just not taken anything like the same approach to the care homes that we have," Dr Rabey added.