Coffs Harbour man among eight more deaths of people with Covid

The man had been a resident at Coffs Harbour Grange Care Community, which is now in lockdown. The facility’s operator, Opal, have issued a statement on the measures being taken.

A man in his 90s has died with Covid at Coffs Harbour Health Campus.

NSW Health reported on Wednesday that the man had been a resident of the Coffs Harbour Grange aged care facility.

He had received two doses of a Covid vaccine.

Coffs Harbour Grange Care Community is managed by Opal, and its communications director Roseanne Cartwright said for privacy reasons it was unable to comment on the specific details of individual residents.

“However we note that there were 638 confirmed cases of Covid in Coffs Harbour alone this week, with over 250,000 live Covid cases currently in NSW,” she said.

“Where each case is sourced is a matter for NSW Health who manages contact tracing.”

“When Covid was identified in our Care Community we immediately put in place a number of actions to protect our residents, families and team, including:

• Our Care Community is in lockdown and all team are wearing full PPE
• Team currently working onsite undertake Rapid Antigen Testing every 72 hours as a routine procedure
• All residents and team onsite are having regular PCR tests while in lockdown
• Where possible, residents are isolating in their rooms and having meals in their rooms
• Communal activities have been ceased
• Team are working in designated areas only
• All residents are being checked for signs or symptoms.

It’s been nose-to-bumper at the Coffs Harbour Covid-19 testing station.

Ms Cartwright said under lockdown rules only essential visits are allowed to Coffs Harbour Grange.

“In addition, we are rolling out booster clinics across all our Care Communities, in the same way as we did with the original single and double vaccination programs,” she said.

“We are also working closely with local and Commonwealth health authorities who we recognise are doing their best under significant operational pressures.”

NSW Health announced the deaths of eight people with Covid in the latest reporting period - six men and two women.

In addition to the Coffs Harbour man, two people were aged in their 80s, two in their 70s, two in their 60s, and one in their 50s.

NSW Health said five of the eight had received two doses of vaccine, two were not vaccinated, and one person was triple-vaxxed.

The latest fatalities include a woman in her 80s who died at Gosford Hospital where she acquired her infection. She had two doses of a Covid vaccine.

A man in his 70s died at the Bupa Aged Care Facility in Ballina. He was not vaccinated.

There are currently 1491 COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital, with 119 people in intensive care, 32 of whom require ventilation.

Of the 35,054 cases reported to 8pm on Tuesday, 392 are from Mid North Coast Local Health District.

The death of the man with Covid at Coffs Harbour is the second in the local health district - after a man, also aged in his 90s, died at Port Macquarie Base Hospital in April 2020.

Testing capacity in NSW is currently under enormous pressure and the only people getting a PCR (nose and throat swab) should be those who have Covid symptoms; live in a household with a confirmed positive case; or have otherwise been advised by NSW Health to get tested.