COVID-19 cases in aged care homes drop 50.1% in seven days

With rhetoric savagely bashing the aged care sector as a crisis-stricken industry, one rather large matter has been ignored: the number of cases of COVID-19 in residential aged care has dropped 50.1% in seven days.

Commonwealth Department of Health data, provided by operators, showed there were 11,980 cases (5,439 residents and 6,541 staff members) in 1,176 RACs, compared to 23,900 cases a week earlier in 1,261 RACs.

The 2022 COVID-19 death among aged care residents now stands at 533, compared to 282 residents passing away from COVID-19 in the whole of last year and 685 in 2020. 

As of last Friday, 2,847 RAC residents have COVID-19 in NSW, 1,087 in Victoria, 1,178 in Queensland, 231 in South Australia, 48 in the ACT, 46 in Tasmania and 2 in the Northern Territory.

Among the active cases in NSW aged care homes, the Russian Relief Association of St Sergius of Radonezh, which is operating as St Sergius Aged Care in Cabramatta, 30km southwest of Sydney’s CBD, has the highest number of residential deaths with 23, including 10 in the past week.

Cardinal Stepinac Village in St Johns Park, 35km west of Sydney’s CBD, has recorded 16 deaths, with Opal Healthcare’s Bossley Parkside Care Community, 36km west of Sydney’s CBD, Bupa Clemton Park, 13km southwest of Sydney’s CBD; Estia Health Kilbride at Gilead, 58km southwest of Sydney’s CBD; and St Basil‘s Lakemba, 12km southwest of Sydney’s CBD, each with nine resident deaths.

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath yesterday (Wednesday) revealed the State recorded its deadliest day during the COVID-19 pandemic with 24 people losing their lives, 16 of them residents in aged care homes. 160 aged care residents have died with or due to COVID-19 in Queensland since borders reopened.

By far the worst active outbreak is at Jeta Gardens, a joint venture between Choe Lam Tan and Malaysian private healthcare services provider KPJ Healthcare, at Bethania, a suburb in the City of Logan, 30km south of Brisbane. 15 residents have died and 100 residents and 82 staff have tested positive to COVID-19.

Jeta Gardens has been the subject of a non-compliance notice since October last year after the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) found its COVID-19 outbreak management plan was deficient. A damning assessment by the ACQSC released on 2 February identified “an immediate and severe risk” to the safety, health or well-being of residents. An adviser was appointed last Friday after talks between the facility’s manager, the Commission and Federal Government.

“We were caught short and we are not shying away from that,” Jeta Gardens CEO Wesley Carter told a town hall meeting on Tuesday.

There have been no new cases of COVID-19 at Jeta Gardens since 29 January and 99% of the workforce has returned.

Nearly 300 Victorian aged care facilities have active COVID-19 outbreaks. Fronditha Care’s Thornbury Aged Care, 7km north of Melbourne’s CBD, had the highest number of residents deaths – nine – as of last Friday.