A WEST Belfast carer has said more must be done to curb the spread of Coronavirus following revelations that more than one-in-three care homes in Belfast are dealing with Covid-19 outbreaks.
Department of Health statistics show that there have been 128 outbreaks at care homes across the North in the past 14 days.
According to statistics released on Tuesday, around 26 per cent of all of the North's care homes have had an outbreak during the latest 14-day period.
In Belfast there have been outbreaks in 34 of the city's 92 care homes (36.95 per cent).
One care home worker, who wished to remain anonymous, said care homes may need to impose visiting restriction.
"Most of the care homes I know have had it (Covid) back in again – we don't have it but we're very lucky," she said.
"We have to go by the government guidelines, but we might need to start looking at visiting restrictions."
At present, Health and Social Care Guidelines encourage care home visitors to undergo regular testing for Covid-19. However, testing is currently optional.
Our source told us that she believes the government needs to increase testing to protect care home residents.
"Residents are only tested on a monthly basis, so maybe they need to be tested on a fortnightly basis," she added.
"Staff are tested every week, but the residents could still have it.
"We're worried about it getting in again.
"Everybody coming into the home should be tested. Our worry is that people are coming in without a test."
