Shipdham Manor care home at centre of Norfolk Covid outbreak

Shipdham Manor, near Dereham, has confirmed that cases of the Pirola variant were detected among staff and residents three weeks ago. 

It emerged last week that of the 34 recorded cases of the variant in the UK, 28 had been detected in a single - then unnamed - Norfolk care home

This meant that 82% of all cases in the country were at the site.

Shipdham Manor confirmed today that it was the home concerned.

A spokesman for the home said: "Shipdham Manor has been working with Norfolk County Council and the UK Health Security Agency following an outbreak of Covid at the home three weeks ago.

"The health and wellbeing of our residents is always our first concern and our staff were proactive in reporting the outbreak and working with the agencies concerned on a programme of testing.

"All our staff and residents have recovered well and many of those with positive tests had no symptoms at all.

"There are currently no positive cases in the home."

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The outbreak was first suspected on August 21, when an "unusual number" of residents fell unwell.

Further testing revealed that 33 out of 38 residents, along with 12 members of staff, had contracted Covid, of which 28 cases were confirmed to be the new variant.

Only one resident required hospital admission. 

The home was closed to new admissions for 10 days during the outbreak, but reopened as normal on September 1. 

The Pirola variant is closely related to Omicron, and experts have said that current evidence does not indicate it will be more severe. 

Concerns about new variants have seen health bosses in Norfolk bring forward the latest vaccine programme, now commencing today (September 11).

Staff and residents at Shipdham Manor are due to receive their booster vaccinations this month, and the care home says it will continue with Covid monitoring in line with government guidelines.