A charity supporting older people in Armley has announced it is suspending its community based services due to soaring Covid-19 rates in Leeds.
Armley Helping Hands today decided to close all community based services for January 2022.
Chief executive officer Dawn Newsome said:
“This decision been made to not only protect our older people, but also to reduce the risk of spread of infection to the team, enabling us to be productive within the community.
“We will re-commence our Covid community services, which will consist of providing direct community services to our older people within the home.”
Meals will be delivered by staff and volunteers directly to older people, in addition to the regular fish and chip service already running.
Staff will also run an additional shopping service and befriending calls, alongside offering any other support needed by service users.
Ms Newsome said the spread of the more transmissible Omicron variant has significantly increased the number of cases in Leeds and the rest of the country. As of 31 December, the Leeds 7-day Covid-19 infection rate is now 1,182.7 per 100,000, a 66% increase from the previous week. The infection rate for the over 60s in Leeds is 466.8 per 100,000 which is an increase of 190% over the previous week.
More details on Armley Helping Hands’ services can be found here.
