Coronavirus death toll mounts at stricken Newmarch nursing home

A 92-year-old woman has become the third resident to succumb to coronavirus at a high-care nursing home in Sydney.

Anglicare’s Newmarch House in Sydney’s west. Picture: AAP

A 92-year-old woman has become the third resident to succumb to coronavirus at a high-care nursing home in western Sydney.

Newmarch House in Caddens near Penrith has been battling an outbreak since a staff member worked six shifts at the ­facility ­despite showing symptoms of the virus. Since then, 28 residents and 14 employees have been infected with COVID-19.

Anglicare, the organisation that oversees Newmarch House, which is home to at least 100 ­people, confirmed in a statement that the elderly resident died late on Tuesday morning and had ­multiple health issues.

“We are saddened to advise that a third resident of Newmarch House, who had tested positive for COVID-19, passed away late this morning,” the statement read.

It is the second nursing home in NSW to become the centre of a coronavirus storm. Early last month, residents and workers at BaptistCare’s Dorothy Henderson Lodge in Macquarie Park, in northwest Sydney, came under threat after an employee tested positive to the virus.

There have been six deaths at the facility, while 16 residents and five staff have tested positive. ­Another seven people in contac­t with them were also infected.

Anglicare’s Sydney chief executive Grant Millard said: “I have spoken personally to the immediate­ family of the resident to convey our deepest sympathies. This is a very sad time not only for the immediate family but also for other residents and staff.”