Australians have a good reason to celebrate this week with the number of active cases linked to the country’s aged care homes falling to zero for the first time since June.
On Wednesday, the last remaining active case of COVID-19 linked to an outbreak in an aged care home in Victoria was cleared.
The milestone marks what has been a long and difficult period for residents, families, staff and providers across the state and the country since the pandemic began in March – eight months ago.
Since then, Australia has experienced 177 outbreaks across its 2,700 aged care homes – around 6% of its homes.
Many involved a single case, but some saw hundreds of residents, staff and their close contacts infected.
Over 4,600 cases – and 655 deaths – in Victorian aged care
During Victoria’s second wave, 4,633 cases were linked to the state’s aged care homes – that is 1,932 residents, 2,036 staff and 635 close contacts.
Very sadly, 655 residents passed away – a terrible loss for both their families and the staff who care for them.
Today, there is still a way to go.
There are six active aged care outbreaks in Victoria which are in the enhanced surveillance phase – meaning they are being monitored for 14 days after the last resident or staff member was cleared or negative testing has occurred at the facility 11 days after these events.
More than 10,000 aged care staff to undergo asymptomatic testing
The Victorian Aged Care Response Centre (VACRC) is currently coordinating asymptomatic testing of aged care staff in metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria, with over 10,000 staff to be tested fortnightly in the city and monthly in regional areas.
Other states have this week moved to relax aged care restrictions – in NSW, staff are no longer required to wear masks while in SA, restrictions on visitor numbers and staff have also been removed.
But there is still a need for us as a community to stay vigilant and do what we can to prevent further outbreaks of the virus.
That means following any precautions required when we visit loved ones in residential care – and keeping up all our hand hygiene and social distancing.
We will also be taking the opportunity to thank those we know caring for our Mums and Dads for their hard work this year – they deserve to be acknowledged for their efforts.
