Fears were growing in Britain about the toll coronavirus is taking in care homes, with charities sounding the alarm and new figures pointing to many more deaths than so far reported, according to AFP.

One charity chief warned that older people were being “abandoned”, with the official UK health ministry toll which currently stands at 11,329, only including deaths in hospitals.

A recent study by researchers based at the London School of Economics looking at data from five European countries — excluding Britain — found care home residents account for 42 to 57 per cent of all coronavirus related deaths.