Four residents die from Covid-19 at Helensburgh care home

The manager of Northwood House in Sinclair Street confirmed the fatalities in a statement to the Advertiser – but said the facility was now “100 per cent” free from coronavirus following recent testing of both residents and staff.

It’s the first time since the start of the outbreak earlier this year that Covid-19 deaths have been confirmed in a care home setting in the Helensburgh area.

Annette Gillies said: “We have had four confirmed deaths related to Covid-19 at Northwood.

“Due to client confidentiality I am unable to confirm which residents were positive for Covid-19 at the time of their death.

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“This has been a very challenging time for the staff team in dealing with the virus within the home, as well as coming to terms with the loss of much loved residents.

“The staff team have worked very hard, alongside the NHS Highland’s health protection team, to push the virus out of the home.

“I can confirm that all staff and residents have recently been tested and we are 100 per cent Covid-19 negative within the home now.

“This is an incredible achievement and shows the staff team’s dedication to infection control and barrier nursing that we have been able to reverse the spread of the virus.

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“At all times I have kept the families, the Care Inspectorate, Scottish Care and the local authority up to date with the status of the home.

“I can’t thank everyone enough for the continued support of families, our GP practice, the coronavirus hub, our health protection team, the Care Inspectorate, Scottish Care and the local authority in helping us manage this situation.

“However my deepest thanks goes to the hard working team at Northwood for their continued dedication to the residents and their care provided.”

According to data released by the National Records of Scotland (NRS) on Wednesday, there have been 61 deaths of Argyll and Bute residents since the start of the outbreak in which Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

Of those, 31 happened in hospital settings and 22 in care homes, with the remaining eight happening at home or in another non-institutional setting.

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That's an increase of two on the total published by the NRS the previous week – with the two addditional deaths both having happened in a hospital.

There is no breakdown of how many of those deaths happened in the Helensburgh and Lomond area.

Across Scotland, in the year to May 17, 3,546 deaths had been attributed, in whole or in part, to Covid-19 – 1,664 of them in hospitals and 1,623 in care homes.

A spokesperson for the Care Inspectorate said: “We are aware of the tragic deaths of residents at this care home as a result of suspected cases of Covid-19.

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“Our thoughts are with the loved ones of those affected as well as the staff and wider community of the home.

“We have been notified of the circumstances and we are in contact with the care service and the local health and social care partnership during this difficult time.

“All of Scotland’s social care sector is working tirelessly under very difficult circumstances to care for people during the pandemic and the Care Inspectorate is doing all it can to support them.”

Dr Ken Oates, interim director of public health for NHS Highland, said: “Our health protection teams have been working closely with the management team at Northwood House to provide them with relevant advice and guidance in relation to Covid-19.”

READ MORE: Catch up with all the latest news headlines from around Helensburgh and Lomond here