Estia seeks extra $6.4m in government funding

Aged care provider Estia confirms it has had three employees test positive for COVID-19.

Estia does not anticipate any further material impact from government support during FY20. Picture: AAP

Aged care provider Estia has confirmed three of its employees have tested positive for COVID-19 as it seeks to secure an extra $6.4m in funding from the Morrison government.

In a trading update released on Monday, the company which operates 69 nursing homes, confirmed it had been able to immediately quarantine its infected staff, with no transmission to other employees or residents.

“The company has had three confirmed cases of COVID-19 within its workforce of approximately 7,500 staff which occurred in March and April,” Estia said in a statement to the ASX.

“The company activated its quarantine and infection control measures accordingly, with the support of the Public Health Units, and there was no transmission of the infection to other staff or residents.”

At the start of the pandemic, the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association cautioned about the virus spreading into aged care homes, given the sector’s highly vulnerable resident population and lack of nursing and trained infection control staff.

Estia confirmed the pandemic had hit the group’s occupancy rate, which has fallen from 93.8 per cent pre-lockdown to 91.7 per cent as it moved to limit the spread of the virus.

“This fall of 2.1 per cent represents a reduction of 125 residents, of which 80 comprised respite residents, with the remaining 45 being within the permanent population.

“The cancellation of travel, elective surgery and a slowdown in regular hospital activity during this time, combined with the company’s conservative approach to the admission of new residents, including respite residents, and visitor restrictions were major contributing factors to this reduction.”

The Morrison government limited visits to residents to two a day from close friends or relatives but last month Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the elderly should not be confined in anyway.

“We would like as many freedoms to be extended to residents in aged care facilities as is possible and there is no recommendation from the medical expert panel that they should be confined in that way,” Mr Morrison said.

The federal government is paying Estia an extra $1.2m from March 1 to August 31 in additional subsidies via the Aged Care Funding Instrument.

The company also confirmed it was accessing a one-off government payment of either $900 or $1350 per resident, which will bolster its revenue by a further $5.2m.

The company is also awaiting further detail of the Aged Care Staff Retention payments announced by the government in March. It is currently expected that this will be a “pass-through” grant which will have no net impact on the company’s financial performance.

“Other than the payment deferral schemes for state taxes, the company does not presently anticipate any further material impact from government support during FY20.”