Family and friends will be allowed to
visit care home residents indoors from
today and over Christmas if they get a
negative result from a rapid corona-
virus test, the government has said.
More than a million tests will be sent
out to care providers over the next
month, along with more PPE supplies,
and visitors may be able to hug loved
ones if they follow guidance released
yesterday.
This says that the risk of visits can be
mitigated and must be balanced against
the benefits they bring to residents and
their families. The guidelines say that if
PPE is worn and other infection control
measures are followed “it may be poss-
ible for visitors to have physical contact
with their loved one, such as providing
personal care, holding hands and a hug,
although contact should be limited”.
While care home managers will
remain responsible for setting rules in
each residence, the announcement was
welcomed by campaigners. It came as:
6 The UK’s death toll from Covid-
passed the milestone of 75,000.
6 There were 13,430 new confirmed
cases, up from 11,299 last Tuesday, 603
deaths and 1,369 hospital admissions.
6 Officials admitted that vaccination
was unlikely to go much beyond healthand care workers this year because the
government did not yet have any of the
jabs in its possession.
6 The jabs will be included on GP
records, although Michael Gove played
down plans for “vaccine passports”.
Announcing the care home policy,
Matt Hancock, the health and social
care secretary, said: “I know how diffi-
cult it has been for people in care homes
and their families to be apart for so long.
I’m so pleased we are now able to help
reunite families and more safely allow
people to have meaningful contact with
their loved ones by Christmas.”
Enough tests will be provided to
allow two visitors per resident twice a
week, with more than a million rapidtesting kits already sent out to the 385
biggest care homes. It follows pilot
schemes in low-infection areas in
Hampshire, Devon and Cornwall. An
extra 11.5 million aprons, 23 million
gloves and 11.7 million masks will also
be sent out.
All face-to-face care home visits were
banned during the first lockdown in the
spring and many residents have only
seen their loved ones through windows
or via screens for eight months.
The new guidance goes far beyond
an earlier version that had suggested
visits could only take place outdoors or
via prison-style screens, saying that “all
care homes — regardless of tier and ex-
cept in the event of an active outbreak— should seek to enable indoor visits
where the visitor has been tested and
returned a negative result”.
Fiona Carragher of the Alzheimer’s
Society said the charity was delighted,
adding: “Hugs, a smile from a familiar
face, holding hands, feeling joy again —
these are hugely important.” It was im-
portant, she said, that homes were
Continued on page 2, col 3Kat Lay Health Editor
Arthi Nachiappan
Chris Smyth Whitehall Editor
Shoppers get
set for ‘Wild
Wednesday’
Ashley Armstrong, Andrew Ellson
Janet Edwards, who runs a florist’s shop in south London, hopes that everything will come up roses as she reopens her doors today. Coronavirus reports, pages 8-
Care homes reopen to visitors
Test negative and see your loved ones for the first time since March, government tells relatives
A fire sale by Debenhams is expected to
fuel a “Wild Wednesday” rush on the
high street today as most retailers
reopen for the first time in a month.
The 242-year-old department store
chain will offer shoppers up to 70 per
cent off after going into liquidation.
About 12,000 jobs are at risk. A
rescue by JD Sports failed and if a
saviour cannot be found before the new
year, Debenhams will start emptying
stores and selling fixtures, lights and
mannequins to raise cash for creditors.
The blow for the high street follows
Monday’s collapse of Sir Philip Green’s
Arcadia empire, including Topshop,
putting 13,000 jobs in jeopardy.
Non-essential retailers have been
shut since the start of lockdown in Nov-
ember and many are expected to offer
discounts to clear stock they have been
unable to sell. Some stores will open for
extended hours in the run-up to Christ-
mas to catch up on lost trade. Primark
has announced it will open 11 stores for
24 hours a day after ministers relaxed
rules on round-the-clock trading.
Spectre of ghost towns, pages 37-Boris Johnson suffered his biggest
backbench rebellion since the general
election last night as more than 50 Tory
MPs voted against the new tiered
system of coronavirus restrictions.
England returns to a toughened
three-tier lockdown system after MPs
DAVID PARRY/PAJohnson hit by biggest rebel vote yet as MPs pass new tier rules
Steven Swinford Deputy Political Editor
Chris Smyth
voted by 291 to 78 in favour of the move,
with Labour abstaining. Fifty-four Tory
MPs voted against and ten abstained.
The size of the rebellion was such that
the government would have been easily
defeated if all the opposition parties
had voted against it.
Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader,
has said that he is prepared to work
with Tory rebels to force the govern-ment to publish a secret dossier detail-
ing the impact of the virus on the eco-
nomy. In an article for The Times today
he accuses the government of attempt-
ing to “suppress the evidence” and calls
for “maximum transparency”.
It was revealed yesterday that minis-
ters had a private report on how Covid-
19 was threatening significant numbers
of jobs and revenue in a dozen sectors ofthe economy. They published a limited
assessment of the health, social and
economic impact of the pandemic after
weeks of pressure from the Tory rebels.
Mr Johnson appealed directly to his
MPs yesterday as they were going to
vote, with some saying he was “cajol-
ing” them to go through the aye lobby.
He also offered a more localised
approach to restrictions in future.Many MPs were unconvinced, how-
ever, and were particularly critical of
the level of support for the hospitality
sector. One described £1,000 grants for
pubs forced to close as “risible”.
The rebels were drawn from across
the Conservative Party, with grandees
and members of the new intake
among them. There were eight former
Continued on page 2, col 5y(7HB7E2*OTSLNO( |||+&!}
Wednesday December 2 2020 | thetimes.co.uk | No 73332 2G
£2 £1.10 to subscribers
(based on 7 Day Print Pack)No party? No problem
Plus
Men’s fashion
highs and
lows of 2020
What to wear to your at-home Christmas revealed
h
l
INSIDE r
TIMES