Bankstown nursing home on alert after worker tested positive for Covid

Residents at a southwest Sydney nursing home where three men previously died from Covid are in lockdown after a worker tested positive.

A Bankstown nursing home is on alert after a staff member tested positive over the weekend.

Families with relatives at Bankstown Terrace Care Community facility in Sydney’s southwest were alerted on Sunday night that the unidentified employee had tested positive to the virus.

The nursing home, formerly known as Opal Bankstown, was one of the first Sydney sites to be hit in the early stages of the pandemic last year, and three elderly men died after catching the virus at the centre.

An email sent to the relatives of residents on Sunday night by general manager Rick Morgan said staff were working “immediately” to secure the nursing home and protect residents.

High alert.... Opal Care Bankstown aged care facility in western Sydney. Picture: Richard Dobson

“We were advised this evening that a team member has tested positive to COVID-19,” Mr Morgan said in the email.

“We have immediately put in place a number of actions while we await further advice from the Public Health Unit.”

Bankstown Terrace is now in lockdown until further notice, with staff wearing full PPE and residents being tested and checked for symptoms.

Contact tracing is underway.

“We will continue to work closely with the PHU to manage the situation,”Mr Morgan said in the email.

“Fortunately, the majority of our residents and team have been vaccinated.”

NSW Health and Bankstown Terrace Community Care have not yet publicly commented on the infected worker.