12 new Victorian deaths linked to aged care with 5 active cases now in VIC Govt facilities – could have been 120 deaths, says Sutton

Victoria reported 216 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, with Premier Daniel Andrews confirming the number in his daily press briefing. This is a slight dip on Tuesday’s total of 222 new cases and represents the lowest number of new cases since July 18, when 217 new cases were reported. Mr Andrews confirmed 12 deaths, all connected to aged care settings. These include three men in their 70s, four women and one man in their 80s and three women and one man in their 90s. Chief Health Officer, Professor Brett Sutton said the numbers seemed to indicate a stabilisation in the number of cases in aged care facilities. “It is very good to reflect it is not ten times that amount, which it could have been,” he said. The largest clusters include:

• 205 cases linked to Epping Gardens Aged Care in Epping (no new cases since Tuesday)
• 191 cases linked to St Basil’s Home for the Aged in Fawkner (1 new case since Tuesday)
• 157 cases linked to Estia Aged Care Facility in Ardeer (no new cases since Tuesday)
• 147 cases linked to BaptCare Wyndham Lodge Community in Werribee (11 new cases since Tuesday)
• 131 cases linked to Kirkbrae Presbyterian Homes in Kilsyth (no new cases since Tuesday)
• 111 cases linked to Outlook Gardens Aged Care Facility in Dandenong North (no new cases since Tuesday)
• 110 cases linked to Estia Aged Care Facility in Heidelberg (no new cases since Tuesday)
• 108 cases linked to Cumberland Manor Aged Care Facility in Sunshine (9 new cases since Tuesday)
• 103 cases linked to Twin Parks Aged Care in Reservoir (2 new cases since Tuesday)
• 100 cases linked to Japara Goonawarra in Sunbury (no new cases since Tuesday)

Melbourne is in the third week of level-four lockdown due to end on September 13, while the rest of the state remains under level-three restrictions.

2,045 active cases in the private sector and 5 active cases in the public sector

Premier Andrews also confirmed of the 7,155 active cases in Victoria, 2,050 were linked to aged care settings, including 5 active cases linked to Victorian public sector facilities. In the briefing, the Premier was asked whether he was trying to highlight anything by providing a comparison in the number of cases in private and public facilities. “People can make their own judgments, I’m not seeking to make any other point than the facts, and they are the facts and I’ve consistently presented them that way,” he said. “And if it’s if it’s OK by you I’ll continue to do that. That is the appropriate thing to do.”

The PM on appointing a dedicated national body

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has also repeated his claim that there is already a national response to the COVID outbreaks in aged care through the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre when asked about the Aged Care Royal Commission’s suggestion that the Government should appoint a dedicated national coordinating body to work with all homes on ABC Radio’s AM program. “Well, we already have been,” the Prime Minister said. “I mean, what we have already in place in Victoria does exactly that, I mean the expertise and experience of geriatricians, to specialists in diseases and how they transfer in facilities, I mean, that that is the advice we have been taking. And where we need to supplement that, then that will be done. And that is, they are the things that Professor Murphy and Professor Kelly and his team have been leading now for months,” he added.