Whole home testing for all care homes in England

Every care home in England will now be offered a coronavirus test for all residents and staff, even if they have no symptoms.

Since the launch of whole care home testing, the government has provided 1,071,103 test kits to 8,984 care homes, and they are now able to send out over 50,000 test kits a day.

To continue providing support for the sector and to tackle the further spread of the virus in social care, the government has set up a new taskforce, with representatives from across government and the care sector. The new taskforce will help oversee the implementation of the government’s social care action plan and care home support package to help end transmission in the community and advise on a plan to support the sector through the next year.

Care home providers are now able to access the online portal to order tests for their residents or staff regardless of symptoms. In addition, DHSC is contacting all care homes to highlight this service and encourage tests to be ordered.

Testing asymptomatic workers helps prevent and control outbreaks. It means those who test positive can be isolated, reducing the number of people who can spread the virus and protecting the most vulnerable. It also helps to build up a strategic understanding of the prevalence of the virus in local areas and the sector as a whole.

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