{"id":9315,"date":"2022-03-17T08:39:03","date_gmt":"2022-03-17T08:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/17\/somerset-care-home-staff-continue-working-with-covid\/"},"modified":"2022-03-17T08:39:03","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T08:39:03","slug":"somerset-care-home-staff-continue-working-with-covid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/17\/somerset-care-home-staff-continue-working-with-covid\/","title":{"rendered":"Somerset care home staff continue working with Covid"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Some care homes have “no choice” but to allow workers with Covid to provide care, a public health official has said.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Somerset is where cases are increasing the fastest, according to Public Health England.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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As a result, nursing homes in the county are struggling to safely staff their services and schools are seeing increases in staff sickness.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Somerset Council said there was “less risk” of making sure vulnerable residents were cared for than of getting infected. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Health officials advised caregivers to only continue working if they were wearing PPE and feeling well enough.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Alison Bell, public health adviser to the council, said: “In some cases we have no choice but to have people who test positive come to care for people in Somerset.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“That risk is actually less than that of a person not receiving care.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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She said the Omicron variant is more easily transmitted and people are being reinfected with it, some within a few weeks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“The implication of there being so much Covid is that workers who we really need to provide essential services are getting sick,” Ms Bell added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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She said some schools in the county have had to switch to distance learning due to an increase in staff sickness. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“It’s really hard to handle right now,” she added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Public health officials said the region’s coronavirus numbers have been above the national average for the past week:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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  • Somerset West and Taunton had 638 cases per 100,000 population.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    • North Somerset had 588 cases per 100,000 population.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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      • South Somerset had 586 cases per 100,000 population.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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        • Bath and North East Somerset had 474 cases per 100,000 residents.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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          The English average was 465 cases per 100,000 people.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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          Ms Bell added: “If you have symptoms, even though there is no legal obligation to self-isolate, we would ask people to consider staying at home so we don’t give the virus a chance to spread to other people.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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