A WHITCHURCH care home has confirmed it suffered a coronavirus outbreak, but has not specified how many lives have been lost.

Wessex Lodge care home is one of a number of homes in the area in which an outbreak has been recorded, according to data from Public Health England (PHE).

It is believed as many as 13 residents have died at the Newbury Road site, although the care home would not provide exact figures.

It comes as Boris Johnson faces criticism after claiming that “too many care homes didn't really follow the procedures” during a visit to Yorkshire on Monday.

The Prime Minister has been urged to apologise by the chair of the National Care Association, Nadra Ahmed, who told Sky News that the sector had been left to deal with the pandemic “in their own way” that the prime minister must start "turning the dial up on reform and down on blame".

The Wessex Lodge outbreak was one of 14 to have been recorded across Basingstoke and Deane during the coronavirus crisis.

However, the care home says it has now been declared clear of the virus by PHE.

A statement sent on behalf of the home read: “As with over a third of care homes in the UK, we are sad to confirm that the home suffered an outbreak of Covid-19.

“Unfortunately, a number of our residents passed away. Our deepest sympathies are with the families and friends, and we have been supporting everyone affected as much as we can.

“We have worked very closely with the CQC, Hampshire LA and CCGs through this testing time. Strict infection control procedures have been in place since the beginning of March and PPE has been available to all staff throughout.

“During the outbreak, all residents and staff were tested regularly and the Home has now been declared clear of Covid-19 by Public Health England with no resident or staff member currently symptomatic.

“The home has recently had an interim inspection by the regulator and all processes and procedures for managing outbreaks have been adhered to.

“We are incredibly proud of the efforts of all the staff team who have acted selflessly during the whole pandemic and also extremely grateful to the local community for their support.”

The outbreak is one of a number in the region, according to government data.

Latest figures from PHE show there have been 14 outbreaks recorded across Basingstoke and Deane’s 50 care homes – meaning 28 per cent of facilities have been affected.

Meanwhile, 203 outbreaks have been recorded across Hampshire, excluding Southampton and Portsmouth. That equates to 41 per cent of the region’s 499 care homes.

However, the number of outbreaks being recorded in the county appears to be on the wane.

Having peaked at 33 outbreaks (plus another 11 in Southampton and Portsmouth) during the week commencing April 13, that figure has steadily decreased week-on-week throughout the month of June.

No new outbreaks were recorded during the week commencing June 22, the most recent data point on record – the only time this has happened since data was first collected in March.