Covid-19: UK government is urged to publish daily care home deaths as it promises more testing

The UK government’s pledge to boost covid-19 testing for staff in care homes must be delivered as quickly as possible and be matched with greater transparency over the number of residents dying from the virus, healthcare leaders have urged.

The government announced on 15 April that it would expand testing in care homes to all residents and staff with covid-19 symptoms “as capacity is built up,” after its pledge to conduct 100 000 tests a day by the end of April. Currently, only the first five symptomatic residents in care homes are tested for the virus to determine an outbreak.

The government also promised that all potential care home residents would now be tested before being discharged from hospital, to help care providers implement isolation procedures for residents who test positive.

England’s health and …