An estimated 1,647 care home residents – 17% of Surrey’s care home population – have tested positive for coronavirus since the Government lifted the last national lockdown on 2nd December 2020.

This distressing information came in response to a question from the Lib Dem team and I at the County Council’s Adults and Health Select Committee yesterday.

Behind these distressing figures are thousands of family members, friends and care home workers, who have faced the worry, the agony and too often the sorrow of this terrible pandemic.

This is a salutary reminder for those of us in public life that decisions have consequences.  It is worrying that 9 months into the pandemic we were still unable to keep our most vulnerable residents safe.

The Lib Dems asked this question because we were worried about recent published statistics suggesting that – despite vaccinating our older residents – the infection rate for over-60s in Surrey was higher than for under-60s.  This contrasts with the position in the Autumn, and in the rest of England, when the infection rate for the over-60s had been much lower.

Let us hope we can learn the lessons of this pandemic and better protect our most vulnerable residents in future.