The elderly, as well as those with underlying health conditions, are considered to be the most at-risk groups of developing serious complications from COVID-19, and outbreaks of the virus have been reported at 2,000 care homes in Britain.
But what further measures could be put in place to protect care home residents, aside from providing more testing kits? And has the UK's government botched its handling of the coronavirus pandemic?
Political commentator Bob Lister gave his views on the matter.
Sputnik: Has the British government done enough to protect the elderly during the coronavirus pandemic?
Bob Lister: No, and in many ways, they have been treated as second class citizens in my opinion, but the trouble is that most of the care homes are privately owned, they are not part of the NHS. It's very difficult for the government to step in and issue them all with personal protective equipment.
One marvellous care home in Scotland has had a lockdown for its care assistants, and they have had no instances of coronavirus there at all because it is totally locked down. The staff there are just staying put; they are sleeping in the care home, there’s nobody going in and nobody going out.
That's the crux of the problem; most of the care homes, sadly, have marvellous carers, but if they go home and then go back again - that’s how the coronavirus spreads. So, irrespective of whether they put PPE equipment on, they have a problem.
Sputnik: Should Britain’s coronavirus lockdown be eased in the coming weeks?
Bob Lister: It's a situation that we know nothing about, and unfortunately, some testing equipment and PPE that's come from China has been faulty and not met our standards, so it's really a very difficult issue. I think that we should all be wearing masks now, personally.
It’s the young, joggers, and cyclists who come far too close to the elderly people when they are out getting their bit of exercise each day, and the elderly are probably the most obedient in being careful, but often they are getting infected by the younger people who are out jogging, coughing and spitting as they going along, making the elderly walk into the road to avoid them.
We should come out of lockdown in a month's time, but people should keep their distance, and they should wear masks.
Sputnik: What measures will be needed to ensure that the UK's economy recovers once the coronavirus crisis has abated?
Bob Lister: Certainly house prices will go down, and perhaps people will not want to be so into keeping up with the Joneses so to speak, as people might realise that these things are not so important, and people might also start to invest in the stock market.
We certainly will lose out in the short term, but in the long term we will recover. I think that we are fortunate to have Rishi Sunak in charge, and I think that we will survive; I think that we will get lots more investment in British industry, which is what we need, as we need to be less reliant on the EU and China.
