Aged Care Minister on outbreaks in Victorian homes – “we need to stop community spread”
“It's a really difficult question because the staff who have most likely taken the virus into the facilities wouldn't have known they had the virus – symptoms don't show until after you’re infectious,” Senator Colbeck said on Tuesday in an...
Aged Care Minister Senator Richard Colbeck says stopping community transmission is key to stopping the spread of COVID-19 in aged care, but is not sure more could have been done to prepare for outbreaks. “It's a really difficult question because the staff who have most likely taken the virus into the facilities wouldn't have known they had the virus – symptoms don't show until after you’re infectious,” Senator Colbeck said on Tuesday in an appearance on Sunrise. “Facilities have been screening for a period of time. So, this is purely a function of the community spread that we have in Victoria at the moment. It is quite a tragic outcome, but we really need to get on top of the virus in the community.” “We need to stop that community spread otherwise we risk this continuing.” Senator Colbeck said the Government is working with unions, employers and the Victorian State Government to minimise the number of staff working across multiple facilities. But he conceded, ensuring staff are not disadvantaged and maintaining workforce levels is a challenge. "We continue to look every day at what we can do to stop the spread into the facility, but the bottom line is that we need to solve the community spread,” Senator Colbeck added. “That’s what is going to stop the spread at the end of the day.”
