A breakdown of the numbers of people who died with Covid-19 for each care home in England has been published for the first time.
Overall, more than 39,000 care home residents died with the virus between 10th April 2020 and 31st March 2021.
The numbers, released by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), show how the virus spread across the country and in announcing the figures, Kate Terroni, CQC chief inspector for adult social care commented, "Every number represents a life lost."
Care homes in the North West had the most Covid-related deaths in the first wave of the pandemic, while those in the South East were hardest hit in the second.
Families who have been campaigning to get the data released say it is vital to have transparency about what happened.
The CQC says it has not found a link between standards of care in a home and the number of deaths. The regulator adds that many factors are involved, including the levels of Covid in the local community and the age and health of the residents.
The highest number of deaths in a single care home was 44, while 21 homes had more than 30 Covid-related deaths.
Note: Care home managers have a duty to inform the regulator when one of their residents dies. From 10 April 2020, they also had to say whether Covid was believed to be a factor in the person's death. The CQC data is based on these notifications. It also includes the deaths of residents outside care homes, for instance in hospitals.
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