That is roughly half of the 2700 aged care homes in Australia.
Aged Care Matters director Sarah Russell said despite the spike in cases, only one aged care resident death was reported in NSW this week.
“For around one-third of residents in aged care homes, this will be their last Christmas. Yet residents who are in lockdown will not be able to celebrate Christmas with families and loved ones, even when both residents and families are fully vaccinated, including having their booster,” Ms Russell said.
“The Royal Commission found residents’ depression, anxiety, confusion and loneliness all increase due to the absence of visitors and long confinements in their rooms.”
Omicron’s rapid spread across the community is prompting facilities to shut down and block visitors pre-emptively, Professor Lee-Fay Low said, the leader of the University of Sydney’s Ageing and Health Research Group.
In some cases, significant delays in PCR test results are leading providers to place temporary bans on visitors while facilities wait days for results.
“Lots of residents are being strongly discouraged from leaving and in many cases visitors just aren’t allowed. Two weeks ago, a resident would have been allowed out,” Professor Low said.
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“What’s happening is whole aged care chains are locking down, even if only one of their facilities has an active case,” Professor Low said.
The latest federal health department weekly data report, released on Christmas Eve, shows there are 385 active cases in residents and workers, up from 213 cases reported at the same time the previous week. There are a total of 105 active COVID-19 outbreaks, an increase from 54 reported last week.
St Basil’s Lakemba and Uniting Lillian Wells North Parramatta aged care facilities have more than 20 cases in residents in each home.
High-risk groups such as the elderly, aged care residents, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults and frontline workers were the first groups to have access to booster shots when the program launched in November.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt told reporters on Thursday that “every aged care facility that has been able and willing to receive because they were eligible and they were ready has had their deliveries done so far.”
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“Those that are still to be done are on the basis of their own timing. And so, we’re well ahead of schedule.”
For four months during NSW’s Delta outbreak visitors were barred from all aged care homes in greater Sydney when the city went into lockdown. From October 11, residents have been permitted to have two fully vaccinated visitors aged 12 years and over, plus two children aged under 12 years per day.
“Omicron has spread so fast and there was little early action from governments to clamp down on cases,” Professor Low said. “This has caused facilities, even if they have only one case, to completely lockdown.”
With Rachel Clun
COVID-19 outbreaks sweep across more than 100 aged care facilities
Source: Philippines Alive
