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Coronavirus – after 8 weeks of lockdown
May 14, 2020
I thought I would provide an update on how we have handled the Coronavirus situation in the 8 weeks since lockdown started on 16 March.
The good news is that not one of our 200 clients (as far as we are aware) has contracted the virus while in our care. We have taken on one client who had the virus when he was discharged from hospital to home and fortunately he soon recovered.
Amongst our 120 staff we have had one confirmed case (and she has fully recovered) and a handful who fell ill before testing was available so we’ll never know if they had the virus.
In all we have delivered 18,429 visits since the lockdown and we have managed to supply carers to every one of the scheduled calls. We have sourced all our PPE (personal protective equipment) of masks, visors, gloves and aprons (with some difficulty and often at much higher than normal costs) and issued this equipment in line with Government guidelines.
We have been stretched, we have been concerned and on occasion, some of us have been frightened but as a credit to every single member of staff, they have kept their heads (‘when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you’ – in the words of Kipling) and provided care to those whose needs were greater than their own.
Our staff have trusted us to provide them with the right instructions and PPE and they have repaid this trust with loyalty and hard work at a time when many of the carers had their own problems at home (extra family members in the home or perhaps greatly reduced household incomes).
Now is not the time to be complacent because, until a vaccine is found, we still run the risk of further infections but I do believe the worst is behind us with UK deaths on the basis of a 7 day rolling average now running at 403 (12 May) compared with 943 at its peak on 14 April (which is a 57% reduction).
We will continue to source PPE and we will continue to provide our service to the best of our ability. We have a wonderful management team who should be able to answer most of your queries so please call the normal office numbers (our offices are open) if you have a particular query.
John Rennison
CEO
