The aged care sector has done an extraordinary job of protecting vulnerable older people during the pandemic,but government support is needed to keep COVID-19 out of residential care.
Hundreds of nursing homes around Australia are yet to get booster COVID-19 vaccine shots,but Health Minister Greg Hunt says the program is “ahead of schedule”.
Tens of thousands of elderly residents are in lockdown after the number of aged care facilities with active outbreaks more than quadruped in a fortnight.
There were 652 active COVID-19 cases in residents of NSW aged care facilities by Tuesday,an increase of nearly 100 in four days.
The surge in demand for rapid antigen tests has been an added stress for those trying to visit loved ones in nursing homes.
The man attempted to drive his partner,who has Parkinson’s disease and dementia and uses a wheelchair,through outback WA as temperatures soared in the car.
Federal government data shows more than 1180 COVID-positive aged care residents across Australia.
It is the nation’s highest number of active aged care outbreaks reported this year,and almost double the figure recorded last week.
Two managers at St Basil’s Homes for the Aged in Fawkner,where 50 people died during a coronavirus outbreak last year,have been directed to give evidence at the inquest.
Within a month of COVID-19 taking hold at St Basil’s,45 of its 117 residents had died. A five-week inquest has heard how the disaster unfolded.
At St Basil’s aged care home in Fawkner last year,Con Velissaris was told:fend for yourself