Aged care providers issue warning as COVID-19 ravages sector

Aged care service providers across Australia are urging the federal government and national cabinet to act urgently to stop the spread of Omicron in the sector. In the last month alone, there have been 389 deaths in aged care homes. That is close to 30 per cent of the total deaths recorded in aged care during the entire pandemic.

Source: The Image Bank RF

Highlights

• More cases documented in Australia of a new sub- variant of Omicron, BA.2, there is an urgent need to accelerate the rollout of the booster vaccine in the sector.
• Between 15 and 30 per cent of aged care staff unable to work because they have COVID or are a close contact.
• Australia Defence Force personnel are considered to help the operation of aged care community in the country.

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Aged care providers issue warning as COVID-19 ravages sector

SBS Filipino

01/02/202206:29

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The Omicron cases spreading widely throughout the aged care community, the first month of 2022 has been deadly for aged care residents.

As of 28 January, 389 deaths in aged care homes have been recorded this month alone, compared to 282 deaths in the entire year of 2021. There are currently 9,643 residents and 14,257 staff infected with COVID-19 in the sector.

Paul Sadler, CEO of Aged and Community Services Australia*, says the impact has been devastating. He called on national cabinet to develop a more co-ordinated national strategy to respond to ongoing waves of COVID-19  and its impacts on aged care. He is also urging the government  that the issue of wages for aged care workers need to be reviewed, including a time-limited support payment. 

"What's happened is Omicron spread so widely through the broader community that it has infected residents who are out seeing the family. It has infected the staff and the family members. And it has then entered nearly three-quarters of the aged care homes across Australia. So it has really overwhelmed the aged care system in a way that the earlier waves - Alpha in 2020, and Delta in 2021 - didn't do. "And we need to recognise that the toll that this has taken on aged care staff. You are having to wear gowns, googles and face masks and so on. There is a extra whole layer of activity that staff are having to go through in order to prevent the spread of the disease and look after older people. But what I should say is we have a broader issue about the pay rates for aged care workers. Their wages are less than those in retail, in health or disability. And older people, and the people who work for them, deserve better than that."