A surge in Norfolk's care home deaths has been blamed on the new more transmissible coronavirus variant.
The 253 deaths in January reported by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) exceeded the amount for the whole of 2020.
Norfolk's total for the last week of January was also the highest in England.
James Bullion, the county's director of adult social care, said the new "Kent" strain "has had a real, real impact".
ONS figures show there were 253 deaths in January reported to the Care Quality Commission, the care home regulator, compared to 233 in 2020.
Mr Bullion told BBC Look East: "Unfortunately the new variant of Covid has been in our community and that's been in our care homes as well. It's meant that the numbers in the last two weeks are over 200.
"We do expect to see a fall in this number. The staff have got the PPE and we've had infection control funding to the care homes, so I think the staff are doing what they need to do."
Mr Bullion said that staff who had the virus but showed no symptoms was "the main cause of the transmission this time".
"What is happening and much more prevalent, is that staff are asymptomatically positive and don't know it," Mr Bullion said.
"And until they're tested twice a week, then that's when they discover it and start to isolate from work."
Some 75% of care home staff and 80% of residents had been vaccinated, he said.
Dr Louise Smith, Norfolk's director for public health, said: "We know that the last month has seen an increase in the number of Covid-19 outbreaks in care homes and, sadly, related deaths.
"The numbers of cases rose through December and January, as they have done in the general population.
"This is a pattern we've seen across our region, and taking Norfolk's demographic profile and high care home population into account the figures in our own county are not unlike those across the country."
According to the county council, infection rates per care home resident is 33 per 1,000 care home beds, compared to an East of England average of 34.3.
Norfolk has been allocated more than £24m of government funding to control infections in care homes and community care settings.
This money is to enable staff who are isolating to receive their normal wages, with an element also covering PPE costs.
It is also meant to enable agency staff to only work in one location.
Caroline Hennessey, from the union Unison, said she had concerns some care homes were not passing on the payment and staff were relying on statutory sick pay.
She said: "There is a risk that care workers might go into work because they're simply not getting paid - they can't live on £95 a week.
"County councils have a responsibility to care workers to make sure that they are looked after when they self-isolate when they have coronavirus and that they are paid."
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February 04, 2021 at 07:02PM
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Covid-19: Norfolk care home deaths surge blamed on new variant - BBC News
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