THE boss of a Westcliff care home says her staff are "scared" as they cope with the loss of nearly one-third of her residents during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Jenny Smith, director of care at Westcliff Lodge Care Home, in Crowstone Road told BBC Breakfast nearly one-third of her residents had died during the pandemic.

She said: "We're all still adjusting and trying to process the loss. The loss and the pain and the devastation.

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"We have many people off sick as well with suspected Covid, so we've been under tremendous pressure.

"There's so much fear among the staff because this is a virus that affects people of all ages, and that's a really primary difference really compared to normal influenza outbreaks."

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Regarding testing of residents and how the delay had impacted upon the care sector, she said: "Of course it wasn't timely enough.

"But I feel that's an issue perhaps beyond this country's control because we didn't have the same set-up, say, as Germany.

"Even more importantly, it perhaps wasn't reliable enough because some people were tested twice and had different results."