Covid hits Cairns residential aged care as elderly wait for boosters

Two aged care facilities in Cairns have closed their doors after patients and staff tested positive to Covid – and aged care residents are still waiting for booster shots.

AGED care residents at two facilities in Cairns are facing restrictions as Covid makes its way to the frail elderly – while questions are being asked about the delay in delivering booster shots.

Bupa Cairns at Moroobool has had one resident test positive for Covid and that person is in hospital, and two staff members have also tested positive for Covid.

Regis at Whitfield has had two staff members test positive and residents on one floor of the two-storey building are isolating in their rooms.

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Townsville-based GP Michael Clements, who flies to Karumba and Normanton to provide an outreach service, said GPs had been told a contractor had been appointed to deliver booster shots.

“We haven’t seen them on the ground – the government figured they could do a cheaper job with subcontractors and they haven’t been able to deliver,” Dr Clements said.

“These are the most at risk people and the booster dose rollout is abysmal, these people were very late to get their initial doses as well.

“The thing that hurts me and my patients is that these lockdowns are not without harm – people spend a whole week waiting for that one family visit, and they thrive on social interaction, but in these lockdowns they are kept in their room, so it is a form of torture, it is a horrid situation.”

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A spokeswoman for Bupa Cairns said the Federal government had scheduled a booster clinic for the end of January or early February for the Mooroobool facility.

“At our Cairns home we currently have two team members who have returned positive tests,” she said.

“We also have one resident who is Covid-19 positive.”

The Swallow St facility is closed to visitors and staff are working in PPE including gowns, gloves, masks and face shields.

“Residents are remaining within their own communities within the home to minimise movement in the building with team members dedicated to each community so they don’t work in other areas,” she said.

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A spokeswoman for Regis Whitfield said the company’s outbreak management plan had been implemented and visitors were only allowed on compassionate end of life grounds.

“Ground floor residents are confined to their rooms but we have a team caring for them and monitoring them daily – we have a wonderful lifestyle team and they can do Facetime calls with family to have some connection, it is not the same, but there are alternative ways to connect with loved ones,” she said.

“Our booster program is scheduled to roll out in the next week.”

She said Regis had partnered with a third party provider for the boosters.

A Department of Health spokesman said Commonwealth vaccine providers had been asked to schedule an in-reach visit for all remaining facilities by the end of January.

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Opposition leader Anthony Albanese, visiting Cairns on Friday, said residents, aged care workers and families deserved better.

“It is outrageous that aged care facilities here in Cairns have had their appointments for booster shots deferred indefinitely,” he said.

He said there were “catastrophic consequences” when aged care residents were not prioritised for initial vaccination.

When Federal opposition leader Anthony Albanese visited Cairns on January 6, he said there were “catastrophic consequences” when aged care residents were not prioritised for initial vaccination. Picture: Brendan Radke

In December 2020, the federal government released an independent review of Covid outbreaks in two nursing homes in Victoria

In July and August 2020, more than 2,000 residents and 2,200 staff at residential aged care facilities were affected – at St Basil’s 94 residents got Covid and 45 died, and at Epping Gardens 103 residents got Covid and 38 died.

The report found that emergency planning was inadequate, infection prevention and control was sub-optimal, workforce planning was inadequate to manage the scale of the outbreak, pathology testing was delayed, and communication needed to improve.

Originally published as Covid hits Cairns residential aged care as elderly wait for boosters