One in four London care homes have been hit by coronavirus since the start of the outbreak, new figures suggest, as anger grows over the lack of reporting.

Public Health England (PHE) said today that around 350 care homes in the capital have declared an outbreak of Covid-19.That means around 25% of care homes have reported outbreaks.

However, the true figure is thought to be even higher than that, with one London council leader telling Sky News they believe at least 387 care homes have had cases of the virus.

The figures come amid accusations care home cases of coronavirus are being forgotten. Currently, the government’s daily deaths update only includes patients who die after testing positive for Covid-19 in hospital.

But stories are emerging every day of care homes announcing residents are dying with coronavirus symptoms, leading to fears the already huge UK death toll is much higher than official figures suggest.

The government announced this week that care home residents showing signs of the virus will be tested, along with care home workers.

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Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Thursday that 15% of care homes had reported cases of the virus, although he only referred to homes with ‘two or more cases’.

However, care home bosses have disputed the accuracy of this figure. Executive chairman of care home company HC One, Sir David Behan, told the BBC coronavirus was present in 232 of his care homes, saying this ‘is about two-thirds of the total number of homes that we run’.

According to the most recent figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which are for the week ending April 3, there had been 217 coronavirus-related deaths in care homes in England and Wales – about 5.3% of all deaths up to that point.

But Care England, which represents independent care firms, fears as many as 7,500 people could have died after contracting the disease in care homes.

Chief executive Prof Martin Green said today: ‘If we look at some of the death rates since April 1 and compare them with previous years’ rates, we estimate a figure of about 7,500 people may have died as a result of Covid-19.’

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