Only 505 social care workers in Britain have had coronavirus tests, the government admitted today.
Downing Street said specific testing of care home and home-care staff had only rolled out in the last few days due to a lack of capacity.
As of 9am on Easter Monday, just 505 have been tested - compared to 47,784 once NHS staff and their families are included.
The tiny figure was revealed despite the Health Secretary pledging on Friday that "all key social care staff" could now get tests if needed.
And it comes amid an outcry over hundreds of deaths from coronavirus in care homes - with 92 separate homes hit as of yesterday. Carers say they have been abandoned to their fate without enough protective equipment.
Care home workers are struggling to get tested despite Michael Gove's daughter being given a test - allowing him to return to work.
Downing Street defended the test for Mr Gove's daughter, which was on the advice of Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty.
A No10 spokesman said yesterday: "The minister in charge of the Cabinet Office is a central role in the coronavirus response. Testing a member of the household ensured that Michael Gove could get back to work to drive forward the government's response at a critical time."
Shadow Care Minister Liz Kendall said: “It is extremely worrying that only 505 social care workers have so far been tested.
“Around 1.5 million people work in social care, supporting vulnerable elderly and disabled people in their own homes and in residential care.
“The Government must act urgently to ensure front line care staff get the testing and PPE they need to keep people safe and avoid even more deaths from this awful virus.”
It may be that more than 505 social care workers were tested in total, if they were classed as NHS staff or hospital inpatients but not recorded separately.
Official figures today showed there have been 406 Covid-19 deaths outside hospital, including 217 in care homes, registered up to April 3.
And because of the time lag the real number of care home deaths will be far higher.
Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey today claimed there were about 1,000 care home deaths.
Former pensions minister Baroness Altmann warned elderly people feel they are being treated "like lambs to the slaughter".
Despite a pledge to reach 25,000 tests a day by April 15 and 100,000 by April 30, no single day has seen more than 20,000 tests in Britain so far.
On Friday Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, announced there was finally enough capacity to test all NHS staff and families who needed it.
But aides confirmed he was still trying to expand capacity far enough to offer it to all care home staff.
And on Easter Sunday there were just 14,506 tests in the 24 hours from 9am, a significant drop.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said the lower overall figure “reflects the fact we’ve just been through bank holiday weekend”.
But he accepted the programme to test social care workers "has only very recently been begun."
He said: "We now have a total of 47,784 carers and their relatives who have been tested in total.
“We had discussed that we were now using some of the available capacity to allow social care workers to be tested if they were concerned they may have coronavirus symptoms. And 505 social care workers have now been tested."
Downing Street insisted the Government was on course to meet the 100,000 daily Covid-19 testing target.
There are 23 drive-through sites and the new "mega-lab" near Manchester is now in operation - carrying out 500 tests - to join a facility in Milton Keynes.
A Glasgow laboratory is due to begin work at the end of this week.
The Prime Minister's spokesman said a new lab, being set up by AstraZeneca, GSK and the University of Cambridge "aims to carry out 30,000 tests a day".
Downing Street rejected suggestions that care home residents and staff were being treated as "second class citizens" during the outbreak.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "I don't accept that at all. We are working around the clock to ensure that every vulnerable person - young or old - gets the support they need during this crisis.
"In terms of care homes, testing takes place where there is a clinical need. We are prioritising testing for social care staff wherever possible.
"We have delivered 7.8 million pieces of PPE to over 26,000 care settings, no wholesaler is prioritising the NHS over the care sector."