ACT records first COVID case in aged care

The Australian Capital Territory has recorded its first COVID-19 case in a residential aged care setting since the pandemic began as the outbreak of the Delta variant continues to grow there and in New South Wales.

There are 55 active cases among aged care residents in New South Wales at 16 August and just over 30 cases among aged care staff in NSW and the ACT affecting 19 facilities in total.

ACT Health announced on Monday that a staff member at LDK  Healthcare’s Greenway Views seniors living and aged care community in Tuggeranong tested positive to COVID-19 on 15 August to become the first  case in a residential aged care or retirement village site in the territory.

LDK Healthcare CEO Byron Cannon confirmed to Australian Ageing Agenda on Tuesday there have been no additional cases to date.

Mr Cannon said 139 of 168 residents at Greenway Views returned a negative result on Tuesday afternoon and the facility was awaiting results of the remaining 29 residents.

He said residents and staff will continue to be tested daily.

LDK Healthcare placed the retirement village into lockdown on Monday.

In NSW, the three largest active COVID-19 outbreaks in residential aged care are at Hardi Aged Care’s Wyoming Nursing Home in Summer Hill in Sydney (42 cases), RFBI’s Hawkins Masonic Village in Edgeworth near Newcastle (21 cases) and St George Care Group’s  St George Aged Care Centre in Bexley, also in Sydney (9 cases).

Wyoming Nursing Home, which recorded its first case on 31 July, reported the death of a third resident this week.

The home, where 33 residents and nine staff tested positive, is planning to reopen this week for residents, who are were transferred to hospitals in early August.

“We have commenced a deep clean of Wyoming Nursing Home now that it has temporarily closed to ensure it is completely safe for our much loved residents to return, expected on August 21. Meanwhile we expect to have all of our staff back in the facility from this date,” Hardi Aged Care said in a statement on Sunday.

Hardi Aged Care’s Blacktown Nursing Home also reported one staff member, who was fully vaccinated, tested positive for COVID-19 on 13 August.

In Newcastle, RFBI reported two additional cases of COVID-19 this week at its Hawkins Masonic Village, including an agency staff member on Monday and another staff member on Tuesday.

It brings the facility’s total active cases to 21, including 15 residents and six staff.

“[The staff member] had been identified as a close contact of the first positive case and has been in isolation. They are fully vaccinated and although experiencing mild symptoms are otherwise well,” a spokesperson from RFBI told AAA.

The active cases at St George Care Group’s St George Aged Care Centre in Bexley includes seven residents and two staff members as at 13 August, according to the latest Department of Health’s report on COVID-19 outbreaks in residential aged care facilities.

 Other active aged care outbreaks in NSW according to the report include:

• Bankstown City Aged Care Yallambee Village
• Bupa Aged Care Clemton Park
• Catholic Healthcare St Hedwig’s Village Blacktown
• Allity Greenwood Aged Care Normanhurst
• Opal Healthcare Stanmore Place Care Community
• KOPWA Aged and Community Care Archbold House
• Anglican Care Jesmond Grove
• HammondCare Waratah
• Hawkesbury Living Nursing Home
• IRT Thomas Holt
• Allity Pemulwuy Aged Care
• SummitCare St Marys
• St Mary’s Villa Residential Aged Care

Main image: LDK Healthcare’s Greenway Views

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