Mass testing could be rolled out across UK aged care homes to allow visits from family and friends who are COVID-19 negative, in an attempt to diminish the isolation being felt by aged care residents.
Health secretary Matt Hancock has pledged to make visiting possible by Christmas and has launched a pilot testing programme.
It comes after more than 60 facilities argued the UK’s second lockdown must not prevent care home visits, warning a ban would cause “extreme anguish” and deny residents their human rights.
Research has found that half of all residents had already been denied visits before the second lockdown.
There are some 400,000 care home residents in the UK, with over 70% suffering from dementia. Experts claims that visitor restrictions accelerate the progress of conditions like dementia, while a lack of contact with loved ones damages overall quality of life.
The UK’s Alzheimer’s Society says isolation is fast becoming the real pandemic for the elderly, reporting that 82% of dementia patients have showed deterioration since lockdown.
