How Covid outbreak hit our aged care homes again

Our most vulnerable communities have been infected for a second time, with three aged care workers and an elderly resident testing positive and forcing facilities into hard lockdown.

Covid-19 has infected our most vulnerable communities for a second time with three aged care workers and an elderly resident now testing positive for the virus — three in the past 24 hours.

Two staff members from Arcare’s Maidstone facility have been confirmed as positive cases, along with an elderly resident in her 90s. While a worker at a BlueCross facility in Sunshine has also tested positive.

Tony Di Paolo’s father, Peter Di Paolo, 92, is locked down inside Arcare Maidstone.

Peter previously received his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine but his son said he hoped the second dose, to be administered Monday is “not too late”.

“I have had conversations with dad but dad doesn’t really understand what’s going on. I don’t want to put him under undue stress,” Mr Di Paolo said. “He’s a trooper. He’ll be fine.”

Mr Di Paolo said the outbreak was “concerning”.

Tony Di Paolo, whose father, Peter, is a resident at Arcare in Maidstone. Picture: David Crosling

“Why is it just Victoria? NSW and other states get it right. What are we doing differently? It’s a simple question,” he said.

“You don’t know what the future holds. It starts with one and it just multiplies.”

But Mr Di Paolo said he was “confident” Arcare was “doing the right thing”.

Three out of the six positive cases added to Victoria’s tally on Monday afternoon were linked to aged care — one is the son of the initial case in Maidstone Arcare, another the elderly resident in her 90s living in Arcare’s Magnolia Unit in Maidstone, and the other a staff member at Arcare Maidstone who was not vaccinated and worked alongside the initial case.

That same staff member also worked at Bluecross on May 26, 27 and 28.

She has mild symptoms and is recovering at home.

Three other aged care facilities were thrown into hard lockdown after it was discovered staff members at those sites are close primary contacts of the positive worker at the Arcare centre.

A woman in her 90s is transported to hospital from Arcare’s Maidstone facility after contracting Covid-19. Picture: David Crosling

A huge health response is under way to test all staff and residents at Arcare Maidstone after the original infected staff member, a woman in her 50s, worked two days while ­infectious.

Contact tracers are yet to uncover how the worker caught the virus, making her the first “mystery case” in the state’s cluster.

The elderly resident is said to be displaying mild symptoms and has been transferred to hospital for close monitoring.

Health Minister Martin Foley said it was deeply concerning the outbreak had crept into some of our most vulnerable locations.

“The fact this outbreak has crept into a number of private residential aged care facilities is obviously a very great concern to the Victorian government,” Mr Foley said.

“It’s a very great concern to all Victorians and the Commonwealth government.”

The announcement of additional cases to Monday’s tally brought the day's total to 11 new cases, putting all of Victoria at risk of an extended lockdown.

Jeroen Weimar pleaded with anyone in aged care to get tested.

“If you are one of the fantastic workers in our aged care sector … please get tested.”

Victoria’s chief health officer Brett Sutton said seeing cases in “really concerning settings” like aged care showed we are “neck and neck with this virus”.

17,000 doses of the Covid vaccine have so far been administered in the public aged care system in Victoria, with 4500 staff already receiving their first jab.

Arcare CEO Colin Singh confirmed the resident had received one dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

The new positive worker did not receive the first dose of the vaccine on May 12 as she was on personal leave when the vaccinations were administered.

“We are closely monitoring our residents and team members for signs and symptoms and a second round of testing will be carried out tomorrow, Tuesday, June 1,” Mr Singh said.

A resident waves from a window at Arcare in Maidstone. Picture: David Crosling

“We are doing everything possible to minimise any further exposure to residents and team members and have placed the Maidstone residence in lockdown. This means that clients need to self-isolate in their suites and team members are now wearing full personal protective equipment (PPE).

“Arcare is well prepared for this outbreak and our infection control practices position us well to manage this effectively. We have sufficient personal protective equipment and all other supplies necessary to continue to provide support and services to our clients and team safely.”

Mr Singh confirmed 53 of the 76 residents at Maidstone had consented to receive the vaccine and have been given one dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

The second dose was due to be administered on Tuesday but was brought forward a day earlier.

All Arcare Maidstone team members are also being offered their first or second dose on Tuesday.

The BlueCross Western Gardens facility in Sunshine has gone into full lockdown after a staff member tested positive as a close contact of the Arcare Maidstone positive case.

The staff member last worked at the BlueCross facility on Friday May 28, when all staff and residents underwent asymptomatic coronavirus testing.

Medical waste being removed from Arcare in Maidstone. Picture: David Crosling

BlueCross CEO Robert Putamorsi confirmed all tests returned negative including the staff member, who subsequently returned a positive test.

“We are closely monitoring all residents for any symptoms of COVID-19. At this stage, all are symptom-free,” Mr Putamorsi said in an internal letter.

“We are also continuing our extensive contact tracing process to identify all close contacts.”

Additional testing was arranged for all residents and staff on Monday.

Mr Putamorsi confirmed that 76 per cent of residents have received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

Two Royal Freemasons sites have now been cleared after employees who worked at the Coppin and Footscray facilities returned a negative result.

The Tier 2 contacts returned a negative test results on Monday afternoon.

No further staff or residents at Royal Freemasons have tested positive.

A Royal Freemasons spokesman said the potential exposure occurred during work and all staff were wearing a mask.

“We became aware of this at 6am Sunday morning (May 30) and immediately locked down these facilities as a precaution, notified the department, commenced full PPE and commenced testing all our residents and staff,” the spokesman said in a statement to the Herald Sun.

An employee from the BlueCross Western Gardens facility in Sunshine is a close contact of the Arcare Maidstone positive case. Picture: David Caird

“For the safety of residents, staff and families we have initiated full COVID-19 outbreak procedures at both Coppin Centre and Footscray while we wait for the return of precautionary testing results.

“This means that all residents will be self-isolating in their rooms and staff are now wearing full personal protective equipment (PPE). We are closely monitoring all residents and staff for signs and symptoms.”

Vaccinations have been provided at all Royal Freemasons homes with most residents having their first dose of the vaccination, and many homes completing their second vaccination.

Nurses in full PPE equipment were seen swabbing employees to determine if the virus had made its way into the aged care centre.

Norma was among the residents locked in their rooms at the Coppin Centre. Speaking from behind a closed window, she told the Herald Sun she was doing okay in isolation.

State secretary of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (Victorian Branch) Lisa Fitzpatrick told 3AW she believed aged care facilities, particularly in greater Melbourne, would be subjected to an extended lockdown.