Coronavirus: Nursing home visitor bans backed by 70pc

Almost 70 per cent of Australians believe nursing homes should ban visitors during the COVID-19 ­crisis, a new poll shows.

A security guard puts tape up at the entrance to Anglicare's Newmarch House at Caddens in western Sydney. Picture: Richard Dobson

Almost 70 per cent of Australians believe nursing homes should ban visitors during the COVID-19 ­crisis, other than on compassionate grounds, a new poll shows.

The Essential poll of more than 1000 people, commissioned by aged-care provider group Aged and Community Services Australia, finds just 10 per cent of people oppose visitor bans.

The survey comes as national cabinet moves to finalise a nationally consistent policy on aged-care visits by Monday. The policy, which includes an obligation on homes to allow face-to-face visits but creates responsibilities on relatives such as ensuring they have had a flu vaccination, are open for consultation until Thursday.

It comes amid a continuing outbreak at the Newmarch House care home in Sydney’s west, in which more than 60 people­ have been infected and 16 residents have died. The aged-care visitor access code was deemed necessary after a stoush between providers and ­national leaders, who criticised the sector for introducing access ­restrictions that went beyond the national cabinet’s recommend­ation of just two visitors per residen­t per day.

At the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak many nursing homes moved to lock out all visit­ors unless there were compassionate reasons, such as if a resident was close to death. State and federal leaders said keeping the elderly locked away from loved ones endangered the mental health of already vulnerable ­people. Scott Morrison said that unless the homes backed down, regulations would be introduced. An industry­ code was the compromise.

ACSA chief executive Patricia Sparrow said the survey provided critical information ahead of the finalisation of the draft code.

“We want to avoid what we’ve seen happen when COVID gets into a facility, which has happened both overseas and here in Aust­ralia,” she said.