Government failings allowed Covid 'to spread like wildfire' in care homes, inquiry finds

Government failures in care settings created an environment that allowed Covid to spread like wildfire, an official inquiry has said.

The sixth report from the Covid inquiry said the care sector appeared to be "something of an afterthought" in the early stages of the pandemic and there was no "protective ring" put around homes as claimed by ministers at the time.

There were more than 43,000 recorded deaths involving Covid in care homes between March 2020 and July 2022.