SA Pathology establishes new ‘crack’ team to detect COVID-19 outbreaks in aged care homes

Health Minister Stephen Wade says the team of 12 domiciliary nurses and phlebotomists (technicians trained to draw blood etc.) will have the capacity to immediately test all residents and staff if an outbreak occurs as the state joins others in beginning to ease its restrictions.

“A key to protecting our State from a resurgence of this disease is our success in dealing with cases as they are identified. The way to stop a case from becoming a cluster and a cluster becoming an outbreak is to identify and isolate cases and contacts quickly,” he said. “Older people are much more vulnerable to becoming seriously ill with COVID-19 and residents in aged care facilities are at particular risk as we see in both Australia and overseas.”

SA Pathology’s mobile service will be available to all metropolitan and regional aged care homes and within reach of a regional pathology laboratory and patient centres. The service would also be used to support disability accommodation, prisons, supported residential facilities, boarding houses and residential colleges in the event of an outbreak. Clinpath Pathology, the state’s largest private pathology operator with 140-plus collection centres, is also developing a dedicated pathology service for rapid sample collection and testing for COVID-19 at all aged care homes. SA has only had one new confirmed coronavirus case in more than two weeks, with 439 cases diagnosed in total.