UK denies sacrificing care homes; Johnson says situation improving

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday the situation in care homes had improved, after his health minister denied Britain had prioritised hospitals over many elderly people in homes in its fight against the coronavirus outbreak.

Johnson and his government have been criticised by opposition parties and some scientists for their response to the outbreak of the coronavirus, with many raising questions over the testing strategy, provision of protective equipment and timing of a lockdown which has all but shut the economy.

Health minister Matt Hancock said: “No we didn’t do this … we have, from the start, worked very hard to protect people in care homes,” adding that the government had put a “huge amount of effort and resources behind supporting care homes”, but Britain had not had the capacity to test more widely early in the outbreak.