Thousands of families have once again only been able to visit their loved ones through windows or visiting pods due to the latest restrictions on care homes.
And now the boss of Four Seasons Healthcare, which has three care homes in Norfolk, has described the current situation as "an absolute outrage", with people being "deprived of their right to visitors".
Before Christmas, Sajid Javid, the health secretary, announced that any care home in outbreak should close its doors to indoor visitors for up to 28 days after the last positive case, except for 'essential care givers' or if a resident is at the end of life. Day-to-day visitors are also restricted to just three named people.
But Jeremy Richardson, CEO of the UK’s third largest care home provider, with homes in Taverham, Wymondham, and Fakenham, said the current government restrictions makes it difficult to give residents "a quality of life and is not justified by the statistics".
Mr Richardson said: “There is a total imbalance between the current risk posed by Covid to our residents and the restrictions imposed by government.
"In the last two weeks less than 1pc of the deaths among our residents can be attributed to Covid.
"We ask that policy reflects the facts, which show that the vaccination programme and our strict infection controls are working well.”
Raj Sehgal, managing director of ArmsCare, which runs four homes in west Norfolk, said that it seems care homes "have been forgotten".
He also said measures on isolation in care homes should be in line with other domestic settings.
Mr Sehgal said: "There is no solution fits all unfortunately and I think that's what the government is trying to do.
"Every care home needs to risk assess their own situation, that can include the environment that they have, facilities, visiting, and availability of staff they have to test those people coming in.
"All these things have an impact."
Mr Sehgal said ArmsCare homes allow visiting through pods if it is "particularly bad" but that many providers are currently in a "very difficult situation".
He said: "Nobody wants to deny visiting, residents have equal rights to everybody else, however you are governed by the level of staff you have got on.
"There's a chronic shortage of staff in social care.
"There are restrictions in place, they're not ideal, but each home manager must assess their own situation and the risk that it poses accordingly."
He added that while he had not come across issues with people visiting his homes, restrictions now only allow three people to visit for each family.
"I think that's a bit draconian", he said.
"Why just three? It can be more provided people are tested appropriately.
"The days of open door policy, which we all want to return to, unfortunately we can't entertain anymore.
"But now we have to go through this regime of testing and logging, and people waiting outside or in a waiting area until results are confirmed, and that obviously all takes time."
Mr Seghal also questioned the 28 day isolation rule, saying: "If you've got an outbreak and it goes on between residents, and it goes on for two weeks, you have to wait another 28 days.
"That means some families can't see their relatives for six weeks."
Care providers are said to also be facing staffing shortages as a result of having to isolate for seven days following a positive PCR test.
Mr Sehgal, previously expressed his "serious ongoing concerns" about the current state of the adult social care sector, which is struggling to cope with rising demands and staff shortages.
When updating the guidance, the government said: "While vaccination is proving very effective, we are still seeing some cases of severe illness, hospitalisation and death of care home residents who have been vaccinated.
"Caution is advised as we learn more about real-world vaccine effectiveness and disease severity of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
"Additional measures are therefore in place to facilitate visiting while keeping care home staff and residents safe."
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