Ministers have been warned that progress to restart care home visits has stalled as a new survey found 70% of families have not seen their loved one since the start of the pandemic.
A report by Age UK found friends and family of care home residents felt the lack of contact with loved ones has led to the deterioration of their health.
One woman told the charity how her mother, who had mild dementia, stopped eating and drinking and “just gave up”. She was only able to see her mother in the final two weeks before she died in September.
Care homes were devastated by the virus at the start of the pandemic, with nearly 20,000 deaths linked to Covid-19 between March and June.