CORONAVIRUS outbreaks have gripped Dorset care homes, with dozens of residents and staff members affected.

Dorset Council said Covid-19 was 'spreading much faster than previously' which has led to higher levels of infection rates in care homes and impacting staffing numbers.

Dorset Care Homes Association said there were currently 92 care homes out of 281 with 'open situations' of Covid across the Dorset and BCP Council areas.

Castleman House in Blandford Forum, and Wordsworth House Care Home in Swanage are among those affected.

The council said Covid-19 is spreading 'much faster than previously', which has led to higher levels of infection rates in care homes and other settings and is impacting staffing numbers.

A spokesman from the Castleman House, Salisbury Road, said an 'outbreak' in some parts of the care home has been communicated to families and carers.

"We continue to utilise our stock of PPE and test regularly as per both government and Public Health England guidance.

"We've carried out root cause analysis to understand how the virus may have entered the building.

"As with any responsible provider, we take any incidents of the virus very seriously. We also take the effect of such on residents, families and our staff equally seriously and review all actions necessary to help prevent the spread. This includes steam cleaning of the premises and self-isolation for residents and staff as well as following all other government guidance.

The Blandford Forum care home is run by care provider Tricuro.

There have been reports that 20 residents have tested positive for the virus or are experiencing symptoms, along with 15 members of staff self-isolating at home. But Tricuro Managing Director Graham Wilkin, refused to confirm the figures.

Wordsworth House, in Belle Vue Road, Swanage, is working with Dorset Council and Public Health Dorset, after a routine swab test of residents returned positive results.

According to reports, 34 out of 40 residents, and 30 staff members, have tested positive for the virus at the privately-run home.

Dorset Council’s Swanage ward member, Cllr Gary Suttle said: "They have had Covid-19 at the home and have called on Dorset Council to assist to keep staffing numbers up.

"The home is coping and it is working with all the local agencies."

Emma Lang, founder of the Poole Covid-19 Community Support Group founder, is the granddaughter of one of the residents who has tested positive for Covid at Wordsworth House.

She said: "We found out last week my nan was Covid positive.

"Luckily she has been relatively OK, so we hope she won’t have any complications.

"We cannot breathe a sigh of relief until the whole thing is over."

Ms Lang’s grandmother, aged in her 80s, only moved into the home in December.

And, according to Ms Lang, her grandmother had been scheduled to get her first Covid-19 jab just a week after the positive test came back.

"It was really tough to hear she was so close," said Ms Lang. “We had been doing Skype calls with her - I managed to Skype her last week, two days after her positive Covid test.

“But because of the staff shortage, I doubt I’ll be able to do it at the moment."

It is not yet known how the virus entered the care home despite the strict infection control measures that have been in place for some time.

The care said it will 'review all actions necessary to help prevent the spread'.

This includes steam cleaning of the premises and self-isolation for residents and staff as well as following all other government guidance.

Anna Knight from the Dorset Care Homes Association, said: "It's a terribly difficult and challenging time at the moment for the care sector.

"We're working as hard as we possibly can to ensure that our residents and staff remain as safe as possible by implementing the highest level of infection control prevention measures.

"There are currently 92 care homes out of 281 with open situations in Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole, which clearly evidences just how virulent this virus is and how hard we all have to work to keep ‘on top’ [of] this horrendous situation."

In response to the outbreaks, Dorset Council is working with teams from Public Health England and the Dorset's Adult Social Care and Health team with testing in place for residents and staff and a medical team based at the home to provide medical care for the residents.

Outbreaks of the coronavirus within care homes saw the rate of infection within over-60s in Dorset continue to rise last week. Dorset director of public health Sam Crowe said the figures were 'extremely concerning' with as much as two-thirds of these infections coming in care homes.

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