UNISON WELCOMES MINISTER SWANN’S ANNOUNCEMENT ON TESTING FOR ALL CARE HOME RESIDENTS AND STAFF
UNISON notes the statement by the Minister of Health, Robin Swann MLA today (18th May 2020) that Covid-19 testing will be made available to all care home residents and staff. UNISON Regional Secretary Patricia McKeown said:
‘‘Today’s announcement by the Minister is a welcome development. From the early stages of this crisis our message to the Minister and the wider Executive was clear and that was that we needed to test, test, test. We have been putting this issue on the agenda and have for several weeks now been publicly calling for a universal programme of testing across our care homes.
The Minister has now committed to introduce testing for all care home residents and staff within the next month. We will now engage with the Department of Health in order to clarify precisely how teting will be conducted and when this programme will commence. We will be urging that universal testing be implemented as soon as possible.’’