Liz Kendall, Labour’s Shadow Social Care Minister, responding to Boris Johnson’s comments about testing in care homes, said:

“The Government’s approach to tackling this awful virus in care homes has been slow, inconsistent and chaotic.

“The Prime Minister today claimed to have always had a system in place, but the truth is the Government’s own guidance until 12 March said care homes would be unlikely to become infected. Further, the Government’s official guidance until 15 April did not require people who were being discharged from hospitals to care homes to be tested, and – despite Ministers’ repeated promises – the Government’s ‘recovery strategy’ document published this week doesn’t guarantee all care homes will even be offered tests until 6th June.

“Ministers must learn lessons from what has happened so far. They must get a grip of this crisis, implement a full strategy for supporting care homes, and give all social care services the priority and resources they deserve.”