Officials believe the number of deaths in care homes in England have doubled over Easter.
In just four days between April 11 and 15, some 2,000 people are thought to have died.
This would be double the 1,043 deaths reported by the Office for National Statistics yesterday for deaths in the week ending 10 April, the Independent reports.
If confirmed, it would mean the total number of care home deaths since March, when the first deaths happened, would have exceeded 6,000.
– Almost 300 Covid-19 cases have been confirmed in Northern Ireland’s nursing and residential homes, the Public Health Agency (PHA) said.
NHS staff have been drafted in to bolster numbers.
The plight of residents and workers at under-staffed care homes which initially struggled to secure adequate supplies of protective equipment has been a major issue during the pandemic.
