A second Arcare Maidstone resident has tested positive for COVID-19. The second resident’s initial test had been previously indeterminate and further testing showed a positive result.
The 89-year-old man, the second resident to test positive as confirmed by Arcare, was a close contact of the initial positive resident. He is the fifth person connected to the facility to contract COVID-19 after a worker tested positive for the virus over the weekend. The man has received both doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine and is currently asymptomatic.
The son of the worker and a second worker also tested positive earlier this week.
Arcare CEO Colin Singh said in a statement “They will be transferred to hospital for public health reasons, coordinated by the Victorian Department of Health”.
Singh also said that the staff will continue to get tested every two days for the first week of the outbreak in the facility.
Aged Care Services Minister Richard Colbeck also said that he is comfortable that 10% of the workforce has been vaccinated. The vaccination of the aged care staff and residents has also been given importance this week.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Greg Hunt has also asked the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee to consider making the vaccination mandatory for all aged care workers in a bid to keep residents and the elderly safe from further outbreaks.
Arcare Maidstone residents have been isolating in single rooms since late on Saturday 29 May. Both residents have been transferred to a COVID-safe hospital ward.
Arcare Aged Care is actively working well with the Australian and Victorian governments, along with the local Public Health Unit and the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission to ensure residents and staff are living, working and caring in a safe and healthy environment.
The Victorian Aged Care Response Centre is working with Arcare Maidstone to ensure:
- workforce capacity,
- application of infection prevention and control measures,
- an adequate supply of personal protective equipment (PPE),
- waste procedures are in place, and
- communication with residents’ family and friends.
The Response Centre is a joint arrangement between the Australian and Victorian governments to manage the response to COVID-19 in Victorian residential aged care facilities.
Based on a city where the mountain meets the sea and where antique houses line the streets, my mind is free to wonder, to wander and to write.
