THE death of a care worker of suspected coronavirus emerged yesterday for the first time as cases of Covid-19 rise to 3706 in Scotland, with the number of people who have died of the virus reaching 220.
The news came to public attention in a statement by Labour’s Monica Lennon, who paid tribute to the carer who died in West Dunbartonshire.
She said lives were being put at risk because of an under-supply of personal protective equipment (PPE).
“Social care staff are the unsung heroes of the coronavirus pandemic. The death of a member of the social care family will be met with great sadness. Scotland-wide, it is worrying that absence levels among the social care workforce are soaring, as are fears about lack of personal protective equipment,” said Lennon.
“Home carers in my region have been asked to use PPE sparingly due to scarce supplies. This is far from an isolated example and I have written to the First Minister today asking her to guarantee safe systems of work for all social care staff because lives are at stake.”
Jackie Baillie, the newly elected deputy leader of Scottish Labour and MSP for Dumbarton, also raised concerns over the issue of access to PPE for health and social care staff as she spoke of the carer’s death.
“In this time of crisis, we all owe a huge debt of gratitude to those heroic health and care workers who risk their lives daily to care for and treat those in need,” she said.
“This very sad news will come as a great blow to the family and to my local community. My thoughts are with them and I share in their grief. It is clear that access to protective clothing and equipment for health and social care staff is a problem across Scotland.”
Hazel Nolan, an official of the GMB union, told the PA news agency: “It would be inappropriate to comment on any individual case. We do not know the facts and there is a family we must consider in all this.
“Advice to home carers was only changed at the end of last week under pressure from GMB Scotland. Advice and guidance to home care workers has been resource-led, not science-led. It was about the lack of PPE, not the need for it.”
At yesterday’s press briefing on the crisis, the First Minister issued an update on the situation and drew attention to the deaths of 12 residents at a Glasgow care home who had contracted Covid 19 symptoms.
She said: “I can confirm today that the provider of the Burlington Care Home has notified the Care Inspectorate of 16 deaths over the period March 27 to today.
“Twelve of those were displaying symptoms consistent with Covid-19.
“We remain in close contact with Burlington Care Home through the Inspectorate about the situation there.
“The home currently has sufficient staff cover and it also has adequate supplies of personal protective equipment.
“More broadly, we’re in close contact with the Care Inspectorate to understand how Covid-19 is affecting the delivery of care across the country.”
Giving her update on the pandemic, Sturgeon said a total of 3706 people across Scotland have now tested positive for the virus, up from 3345 on the previous day.
In total, 23,143 patients have been tested across the country since the outbreak began, which has led to numerous drive-through facilities opening – including one at Glasgow Airport – and the construction of a temporary hospital at Glasgow’s SEC, to be called the Louisa Jordan Hospital.
The First Minister reiterated the figures should not be taken as truly representative of events from the weekend, with a change in the way deaths are reported.
Addressing the carer’s death, a Scottish Government spokesman said the supply of PPE was adequate: “This is a terrible tragedy for the individual concerned and our thoughts are with the family, friends and wider community.
“These are unprecedented times and our social care sector is working under very challenging circumstances to care for people during the pandemic. We have adequate PPE supplies and are ... prioritising the protection of our frontline social care workers and we have introduced four direct supply lines for PPE, a streamlined ordering system for all staff who need PPE and a new dedicated email address for any health or social care worker who has any concerns about PPE supply.”
He added that over the past two weeks, over six million PPE products have been delivered to 1073 places.
Beth Culshaw, chief of West Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership, said: “It is with deepest sadness that we can confirm a member of our team passed away today. Our hearts go out to her family, friends and colleagues at this devastating time.”
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