Positive test for coronavirus by Parkside aged care facility worker
A worker at an aged care facility has tested positive for coronavirus as South Australia records its largest day-by-day increase to date.
SA News
Don't miss out on the headlines from SA News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Latest developments: Saturday’s rolling coronavirus updates
- Follow more COVID-19 in SA coverage
- This story about the coronavirus crisis is free for all readers – please consider supporting our journalism with a subscription
The state’s chief public health officer’s son is in isolation as a precaution as an eastern suburbs nursing home remained in lockdown on Friday night after an aged care worker contracted coronavirus.
Associate Professor Dr Nicola Spurrier’s husband has taken their son into precautionary quarantine away from the family home to allow her to work and protect his classmates.
The young boy, 12, attends Scotch College, where another female student, also 12, was this week revealed as having contracted the disease. Dr Spurrier said she understood why parents would be worried.
“My child who attends Scotch College is also in quarantine for 14 days so I absolutely understand the concern parents have,” she said.
“I have a husband who is very supportive. He and my little boy have gone to live elsewhere for those 14 days. He did say to me he was feeling a little bit lonely and I am organising to have our family dog join him for company.”
As the state’s confirmed tally of COVID-19 cases spiked by eight yesterday to 50, the St Louis Nursing Home, at Parkside, had barred all visitors and rostered on extra staff to keep the affected residents safely isolated in their rooms.
The worker at the 45-resident nursing home is believed to have contracted the virus while playing social basketball.
In a letter to families, director of care Sue Toner said the allied health worker, who had attended the centre on Monday “seeing some of our residents”, became unwell after a teammate who had played with her the previous Wednesday had tested positive to the virus.
She said no other residents showing any sickness signs.
“The nursing home is now in total lockdown,” the letter states.
An Unley High student is also among the latest confirmed cases as both Dr Spurrier and Premier Steven Marshall strongly defended SA Health’s handling of the case.
Parents were not made aware of the positive test until school started on Friday and Dr Spurrier said the delay was her decision because she wanted to check facts after being notified on Thursday night.
Dr Spurrier praised the student’s parents for keeping him in isolation at home when he felt unwell, after a teacher was confirmed with the disease.
The boy had been on a camp then travelled in a bus with other students for 45 minutes but Dr Spurrier said this was not a “close contact”.
Unley High has instituted heightened hygiene rules, including extra hand washing stations and a reminder bell.
Dr Spurrier was speaking at SA Health’s new COVID-19 Command Centre, which co-ordinates emergency services, GPs and government agencies.
Test clinics have opened at Gawler, Kingscote and Wallaroo, with other regional centres to open next week.
New isolation rules a further hit to venues
Pubs, cafes, restaurants and cinemas will be forced to limit customers drastically under new indoor gathering rules that could see Adelaide’s cafe scene and night-life shut down virtually overnight.
Beyond the rule restricting indoor gatherings to 100 people or less, venues across Australia have been told to limit customers to one person for every 4sq m, meaning a 100sq m venue could allow just 25 people inside. Cinemas and theatres have been told to use alternate seating, such as staggering patrons or using alternate rows, except for family groups who may sit together.
Peel St, Leigh St and other small bars and cafes in the CBD in particular would struggle with the 75 per cent drop in their capacity, Australian Hotels Association SA boss Ian Horne said. “At least they haven’t shut us down,” he said.
“Hopefully this is the last of it, this allows people to continue to trade.”
In addition to the restrictions, Mr Horne said cafes and bars were already suffering from people not going out for meals and working from home.
The economic hit from the virus is starting to force the permanent closure of venues, with d’Arenberg yesterday announcing it would shut its Cube restaurant at McLaren Vale. The restaurant, within the three-level tourist icon, will hold its final service on April 2.
d’Arenberg winemaker and The Cube visionary Chester Osborn said he blamed coronavirus for the closure but also noted the hit to tourism following SA’s December bushfires. “Two-thirds of the people who come to The Cube are tourists and they’re just not there now,” he said. “The other third are locals, and obviously they’re not coming out now, either.”
La Moka owner Manuel Francesconi said it would be better for some small venues if the Government ordered them to close temporarily.
“For us at this stage, it would be easier if there was an order for us to close so we would have insurance for business interruption, so you could cover rent and pay wages,” he said.
For small venues such as La Moka, which has about 60sq m of floor space inside, the limit was not sustainable – particularly given staff would also be included in the count, Mr Francesconi said.
Premier Steven Marshall said: “We are very mindful of the effect this will have, especially on small businesses and we will be working with the Federal Government to bring further stimulus and support for those people that are affected.”
Mr Marshall said the new rules would apply to non-essential gatherings only, so schools, workplaces and public transport were exempt.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison will unveil a multibillion-dollar economic rescue package this weekend, which will focus on sole traders, and the hospitality and tourism sectors. Mr Morrison said yesterday the new indoor gathering rules were “very practical and sensible arrangements” which venues could manage.
“It just simply means understanding how big the room is and then simply advising how many people can be in that room at any one time,” he said.
He urged the public to co-operate with the new rules.
“By you doing the right thing, you will be saving the life of someone who is more vulnerable, so do it for your fellow Australians,” he said.
Testing times for schools as NAPLAN cancelled
The annual school testing system NAPLAN has been cancelled as the coronavirus crisis deepens.
As schools deal with a wave of precautionary measures the academic tests were seen as an avoidable burden.
“The decision by education ministers around the country was necessary in the circumstances to ensure that the top priorities in our schools can proceed without distraction at this extremely complex time,” South Australian Education Minister John Gardner said.
“NAPLAN is an important part of our education system in Australia, and it will return next year, but given the extremely challenging situation we are currently facing at the moment all ministers agreed that it should not proceed this year.”
NAPLAN – the National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy which is taken in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 – was scheduled for May 12 to 22.
SA Secondary Principals Association president Peter Mader said school leaders had been calling for the cancellation.
He said the decision eased “one of the pressure points facing schools”.
School leaders were incredibly busy dealing with COVID-19 issues including “a flurry of requests for special leave by staff” and addressing heightened anxiety levels from parents, students and staff. SA Primary Principals Association president Angela Falkenberg said the move was sensible and welcomed by educators.
She added that NAPLAN took teachers considerable time to organise and caused anxiety to some students and was not needed at this time.
Meanwhile, Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan will meet representatives of the Australian Education Union on Tuesday to discuss teacher concerns about COVID-19.
The union wrote to Prime Minister Scott Morrison raising health and safety concerns of teachers and practical problems with implementing government policy.
These included rulings about personal space and national shortages of soap, toilet paper, sinks and cleaning materials.
“There is widespread concern about the possibility of school closures but limited information available publicly on how such a decision would be made nationally,” AEU federal president Correna Haythorpe, SA president Lara Golding and union heads of all states said.
“The widespread community concern has already led to high levels of student absence in many states and territories.
“We reject unrealistic expectations that alternative (virtual) learning episodes will be provided for students in the event that schools close – such expectations are inequitable in their impact particularly for students who come from low socio-economic backgrounds and regional and remote centres and unsustainable in an education system denied basic resources.”
An Education Department spokeswoman said schools were doing “our best to encourage good hygiene and to keep our schools well supplied with hygiene products”.
Dr Spurrier said she understood why parents would be worried.
“My child who attends Scotch College is also in quarantine for 14 days so I absolutely understand the concern parents have,” she said. “I have a husband who is very supportive. He and my little boy have gone to live elsewhere for those 14 days. He did say to me he was feeling a little bit lonely and I am organising to have our family dog join him for company.”
Dr Spurrier was speaking at SA Health’s new COVID-19 Command Centre, which co-ordinates emergency services, GPs and government agencies.
Test clinics have opened at Gawler, Kingscote and Wallaroo, with other regional centres expected in coming days.
National Cabinet will meet on Tuesday night to discuss issues including possible restrictions on non-essential interstate travel, as officials plea with the public not to call triple-0 for COVID-19 advice – instead call 1800 020 080
More staff wanted at disability service provider
South Australian disability services provider Cara is looking for at least 50 new workers, willing to work full-time, part-time, or casual hours.
“Cara cannot and will not close during the COVID-19 pandemic,” chief executive Liz Cohen said. “It’s not an option. We are expanding our workforce during this time.”
The organisation supports more than 730 children and adults living with a disability and employs more than 1000 staff across Adelaide, Mount Barker, Murray Bridge, Mount Gambier, Kadina, Port Augusta, Port Pirie and Port Lincoln.
“We support some of the state’s most vulnerable people with disabilities who rely on us for everyday support – anything from personal care, day-to-day living, right up to emotional support and mental health support,” Ms Cohen said. People currently looking for work, such as school support officers or child care workers, will have easily transferable skills, Ms Cohen said.
“To the people from the airline and hospitality industry, you have highly valued people skills. As soon as you have the relevant regulatory clearances to work with children and vulnerable adults, we’ll train you to work alongside our customers with disability to give them that incredible support.”
Any staff who join Cara as permanent part-time or full-time staff will have access to paid special leave should they need to self-isolate or contract COVID-19, Ms Cohen said.
Cara support worker Penny Babaniotis welcomed new staff with diverse backgrounds to join her at Cara. “It’s amazing and fulfilling work, perfect for people who are interested in working with people,” Ms Babaniotis said.
A list of job openings is available at: cara.org.au/careers
Cash to help aged care cope
The Federal Government will pour an extra $444.6 million into aged care facilities, including money to help them hold onto staff amid the coronavirus crisis.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the funding would comprise $234.9 million in retention bonuses, $78.3 million to support continuity of workforce and $26.9 million to keep facilities financially viable.
Other money will be set aside to support in-home care providers, including Meals on Wheels. The chief medical officer also said the Government was looking at broadening the testing criteria for coronavirus.
Professor Brendan Murphy said all aged care workers would be tested, as well as any healthcare workers with flu-like symptoms. Mr Morrison said states and territories would move to meet the Government’s previously announced restrictions on aged care visits, limiting them to short, two-person once a day per resident visits.
Under those restrictions, children under-16 are barred from aged care homes.