Care homes to close

West Berkshire Council is to close all of its Care Homes to all but essential visitors imminently.

The decision has been made as a proportionate measure to the Covid-19 pandemic to keep this very vulnerable group of people as safe as possible and will be subject to review as the situation develops – minimising contact with people is vital to achieving this. 

Graham Bridgman, West Berkshire’s Executive Member for Adult Social Care said: “The risks of remaining open to visitors are straightforward – the more visitors there are, the greater the risk of bringing infection into the home. 

“While we appreciate that residents will miss face to face contact with family members, we are sure that relatives and communities will support us in this decision in order to help us to keep their loved ones as safe as possible.  So that residents can nevertheless keep in contact with their family and friends we are ensuring they have access to the internet, tablets, phones, etc and we will be working to support contact through technological means.”