Susanna Reid in tears on 'GMB' over mother unable to visit 26-year-old son in care home
Susanna Reid was brought to tears on Monday's Good Morning Britain over the plight of people who cannot see their loved ones in care homes due to the coronavirus.
Many care home residents have gone months without seeing their families during the pandemic, although there are hopes that increased testing with rapid results could change things.
Reid was particularly moved by the story of one woman, Susanne, whose autistic 26-year-old son has suffered distress over not being able to see his mother.
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"Susanne on Facebook says, 'My son is severely autistic and lives in a care home,’" the presenter read as her voice started to break. "‘He's distraught he can't see me, or come home to visit'... sorry."
During the discussion with @piersmorgan and @DrHilaryJones about why it's taken so long to implement rapid-result Covid tests so people can visit loved ones in care homes, @susannareid100 gets emotional as she reads out one mum's plight of not being able to visit her autistic son pic.twitter.com/AUYQP4LswL
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) November 16, 2020
The mother-of-three took time to compose herself while Dr Hilary Jones and Piers Morgan continued the conversation.
Morgan went on: “This boy, and I can quite understand why Susanna got upset. He’s 26 years old, he is severely autistic and doesn’t understand why he can’t come home.
“This poor mother – Susanne – has seen him a couple of times since February. Two times, a 26-year-old, severely autistic son, twice she’s seen him this year."
Reid went on to explain why she had been reduced to tears.
"I'm so sorry," she said. "I was affected by what's happening, but keep your stories coming in about people who you can't see in care homes."
Monday's instalment of the breakfast show also saw Matt Hancock interviewed by Reid and Morgan after a 201-day government boycott of the programme.
The health secretary was asked why the government hadn’t yet rolled out testing to every care home, to which he replied: “That’s what we’re going to do and I hope to have that done by Christmas.
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"The reason we’re doing this carefully is because we have to protect people in care homes... I’d rather take a couple of weeks now to get those protocols right so that we don’t have this choice.”
He added: “It’s about how to do it safely in all 16,000 care homes, which is a very large number, and making sure we can do it in all different settings. It’s so important.”
Watch: Piers Morgan questions Matt Hancock on coronavirus strategies
