Disability provider Minda in hard lockdown after Covid outbreak, as Bene Aged Care home deals with staffing crisis

People with disabilities have been forced into hard lockdown on Christmas Day after a Covid outbreak at provider Minda.

People with disabilities have been forced to spend Christmas Day in hard lockdown after nine Minda staff tested positive to Covid.

In a memo, the disability services provider said family members were first advised on Christmas Eve that the entire Brighton campus would be immediately locked down.

“The hard lockdown means no family members can come on to our Brighton campus to visit a loved one,” the update said.

Families who have already collected their relative may not be allowed to return them to Minda, and short-term visits away from the site will not be facilitated because “leaving the site risks compromising the health and welfare of all clients and staff who support them”.

Among declared exposure sites on the campus is the whole of the Pat Kaufmann Centre, a nursing home that cares for some of the provider’s most vulnerable clients.

A Minda spokesman said the campus remained closed to all visitors and non-essential staff as a precaution after the nine positive test results.

“No clients have tested positive at this point,” he said.

“Additional health and safety measures are in place, including enhanced cleaning and increased use of full personal protective equipment.”

Meanwhile, an aged-care home at the centre of a Covid outbreak in Adelaide’s north east is facing an “urgent” staffing crisis, with SA Health called in to manage the evolving situation.

SA Health’s deputy chief executive officer Don Frater released a letter to residents on Thursday alerting them to the outbreak at Bene Aged Care in St Agnes.

The latest figures from SA Health said 25 people had been infected in the outbreak, including 21 residents at the site, with three staff members and an additional person in hospital.

Mr Frater said SA Health’s Covid-19 Aged Care Response team had been called in for daily meetings at the site in a bid to prevent further infection spread.

“With some Bene staff deemed close contacts and unable to come onsite to work, we are working to ensure that appropriate levels of staffing can be maintained during this response,” Mr Frater said.

It is not known how many staff have been pulled from their duties due to the outbreak.

Last week SA Health revealed 22 residential aged-care facilities had been potentially exposed to Covid, after a vaccinated doctor and physiotherapist visited multiple Adelaide aged care homes while infectious.

The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation of South Australia took desperate measures on Wednesday, advertising an “urgent appeal” from Bene Aged Care in St Agnes, who were in “dire need of staff due to a Covid outbreak”.

Bene Aged Care. Picture: File

“With many of their staff in isolation, they are in desperate need of registered nurses, enrolled nurses, and care workers to cover shifts over the holiday period” the advertisement wrote.

Anyone who accepts shifts would be offered 25 per cent extra pay.

Mr Frater urged anyone who visited the site since Tuesday, December 14, to be tested immediately and isolate until results are returned.

“Specifically, if you have visited the nursing home section of this facility you are considered a close contact and must follow the advice listed on the SA Health website,” he said.

Paramedics were on high alert on Friday night, with a page being sent out to all South Australian Ambulance Service workers to step in and manage Covid patients in the nursing home.

“Please call rostering ASAP if available, thanks,” the page said.

SA Health said 18 people had been infected in the outbreak. Picture: iStock

The Commonwealth Government, the Aged Care Quality Safety Commission and the Aged Rights Advocacy Service have also been called in to assist in infection control.

“Over the next few days, the Response Coordination Team will work with Bene Aged Care on a handover of this outbreak response, so that they can independently move forward and take ownership of the care and support needed for their residents,” Mr Frater said.

Bene Aged Care home was also contacted for comment.

It comes as multiple other health facilities are in lockdown for Christmas, including Glenside Inpatient Rehabilitation Services.

“There is to be no consumer leave or visitors during this period,” an email sent from SA Health on Friday afternoon said.

“The internal courtyards during this period are now designated smoking areas.”

The memo said the situation was being regularly reviewed.