A BOSS of a Wrexham care home has made a desperate please for government support after losing 60 per cent of her residents to Covid-19.

Ricki Bibi, owner of Manor Park Residential Home in Holt, hasn’t confirmed the number of Covid-19 deaths at the home but said it had lost “60 per cent” of its residents to the virus.

Now Mrs Bibi is urging the authorities to support care homes which are facing a financial black hole amid the crisis.

The 28-bed facility was at 50 per cent occupancy with 14 residents when the first coronavirus case was suspected, but that's now fallen to less than 20 per cent occupancy, Mrs Bibi said.

After "brilliant" staff responded to the crisis by moving into the care home on a full-time basis after it went into lockdown when the first Covid-19 case was confirmed, Manor Park has now been declared symptom free under government guidelines.

The Welsh Government is providing an initial £40m to support social care providers, but Mrs Bibi says the authorities must do more to help care homes through the current crisis.

She said: "The money we need to run care homes will start running out within weeks.

"Care homes provide critical support to the NHS. Where else can elderly residents be kept other than in hospitals?

"However, they need bed occupancy rates of around 90 per cent to remain financially viable.

"At the moment private providers are being left to carry huge debts by accessing personal funds, which is clearly not sustainable."

Mrs Bibi says the fact care homes are not entitled to business rates relief is leaving them particularly vulnerable.

It comes after Mario Kreft MBE, the chair of Care Forum Wales, warned half of all care homes in North Wales could close amid the Covid-19 outbreak unless urgent action is taken.

He said the "perfect storm" of spiralling costs and falling income means many care homes are having to take out loans and consider imminent closure.

The Welsh Government says it "monitoring" the situation and will provide additional funding if "necessary".

Manor Park, which has fees paid by Wrexham Council, is registered for people over 65 with dementia or mental infirmity.

Its owners suspect Covid-19 entered the premises via a referred resident but without testing this cannot be confirmed.

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Mrs Bibi said: “Testing is improving but some people are being tested a week prior to moving into a care home – a lot can happen in seven days.”

There are also staffing concerns. "People don’t want to work in care homes, agencies cannot find the staff and those that are available are earmarked for the NHS," she said.

Manor Park has been supported by local people and businesses, with donations ranging from cakes to visors and masks.

And the care home is now again open for new referrals and Mrs Bibi has urged the community to once again give its backing.

She applauded its staff for their selfless commitment to staying at the facility amid lockdown.

“It’s an absolutely wonderful place,” she said.

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We are providing an initial £40 million to help local authorities meet the additional costs adult social care providers are incurring as a result of Covid-19.

"We are monitoring this and will consider providing extra money if necessary. We have also provided extra PPE for care homes and made arrangements for care homes to access PPE via their local authority.”