Mr Kapelaris said he was concerned the residents did not receive their booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine six months after their second dose. He took his father to receive his at a private clinic in December,but said other residents only received shots due in November this week.
In a response,Bupa said the federal government had scheduled their booster clinic for January 10,and it was brought forward to Monday in response to the outbreak.
Saviour Buhagiar,director of ageing at UnitingCare,confirmed its Lilian Wells aged care facility at North Parramatta had recorded one of the largest outbreaks since the pandemic began,with 56 residents and 19 staff infected. Cases in the cluster were sequenced as Omicron.
The infections in the Lilian Wells cluster led to the deaths of two fully vaccinated residents in their 80s. Mr Buhagiar said the first case in the cluster was an asymptomatic staff member identified as a close contact of a person in the community who tested positive on a PCR.
“The failure of the healthcare system to prioritise PCR testing and other public health support measures to the residential aged care sector will result in increased risks to residents and staff,as we will have to rely on less effective rapid antigen testing and COVID-19 symptom responses to manage this new and far larger wave of infections,” he said.
Although the largest outbreaks are in Sydney,multiple have also occurred in regional areas. Among the eight COVID-19 deaths reported in NSW on Wednesday were residents of Coffs Harbour Grange and Bupa aged care in Ballina.
Rising cases in aged care have been seen nationally,public health researcher and aged care advocate Dr Sarah Russell said. On December 24,there were 196 residents with COVID-19 across Australia. By January 4 this number had increased to 1424. In NSW,the number of cases has increased more than sixfold.
Dr Russell also expressed concern about the booster program rollout,with only about 60 per cent of aged care facilities so far receiving a visit from a booster clinic nationally.
On Wednesday,a coalition of aged care providers and advocates,including UnitingCare as well as Aged&Community Services Australia (ACSA),Anglicare,BaptistCare,Catholic Health Australia and Leading Age Services Australia,called for guaranteed availability of free rapid tests for aged care facilities,and nationally consistent rules on staff furloughing afterfederal health authorities recommended close contacts were returned to work if there was a high impact on services.
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ACSA CEO Paul Sadler said the shortage of staffing was presenting a particular problem for facilities.
“Ever since the lead up to Christmas we have been experiencing a squeeze on availability,” he said.
“But with the rapid increasing community transmission,the fact there are more and more outbreaks,there is a shortage of regular and agency staff.”
The group also sought national guidelines for how to balance the social impact on ongoing lockdowns of aged care facilities with the need to keep residents safe.
Concerned families have told theHerald about increased virus exposures affecting aged care facilities after Christmas. At Hardi Manly Vale,an email seen by theHerald confirmed that a resident had tested positive after spending time outside the facility at a Christmas lunch.
Dr Russell said COVID-19 was “spreading like wildfire in aged care homes” but the impact on mental wellbeing of constant lockdowns for infection control was significant.
“In some aged care homes,residents have been confined to their rooms. This is heart-breaking,” Dr Russell said.
“Taking away a resident’s liberty by confining them to their rooms is profoundly damaging to their mental and physical wellbeing.
“Although aged care providers claim the lockdowns are to ‘save lives’,what type of life is it when you are confined to a room without seeing the people you love?”