Deaths in aged care double with Covid-19 spike amid accusations Albanese government is in ‘denial’

Vaccination rates in the residential aged care sector remain persistently low, amid accusations the government is ‘in denial’ about a viral threat to older Australians.

One hundred and thirty-one people died in January in Australia’s aged care homes, nearly double on the previous month. Picture: Kari Bourne/Sunshine Coast Daily

Deaths in residential aged care more than doubled in January compared with monthly figures last October as the sector grapples with a summer spike in Covid-19 cases, sparking accusations the government is “in denial” about a viral threat to older Australians.

According to the Department of Health’s weekly Covid-19 snapshot of residential aged care, 131 people died in January compared with 59 deaths in October.

Weekly figures have been high across the summer period, with 104 deaths in November and 88 fatalities in December.

Monthly deaths are at their highest peak since June last year, when cases surged in a winter wave. However, vaccination rates in the residential aged-care sector remain persistently low, with just 30.3 per cent of aged-care residents having received a booster dose in the past six months and 69 per cent since January last year.

Grattan Institute health policy director Stephen Duckett said the government, the residential aged-care sector and the primary care network had a responsibility to ensure older Australians were protected against the virus.

Professor Duckett, who previously served as Department of Health and Ageing secretary, urged the federal government to restart mass vaccination drives to protect residents from death.

“Generally the government seems to be in denial that Covid still exists and there certainly doesn’t seem to be sustained evidence it is using the available knowledge to actually protect older Australians living in aged care,” Professor Duckett said.

“The government ought to know the vaccination rates in every facility in the country and they should be holding those facilities to account by promoting vaccination rates or holding the primary care network to facilitate higher vaccination rates.”

Former Health department secretary Stephen Duckett. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

Aged-care expert Paul Sadler said dropping vaccination rates were “a real concern” and suggested some restrictions could be brought back to protect vulnerable people in aged care during Covid-19 waves, calling on Aged Care Minister Anika Wells, Health Minister Mark Butler and Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner Janet Anderson to act.

The calls come as case numbers surge, reaching a recent peak of 1946 new cases weekly in aged care on January 12 compared with 618 in on October 1.

“What is happening partly is the relaxation of the pandemic phase back to a kind of normal reaction phase has meant a difference in both aged-care providers responding and in the expectations of families and staff,” Mr Sadler said. “Many facilities have relaxed mask wearing but you have to consider the disease has definitely not gone away.”

Ms Wells said all deaths because of Covid-19 were a “tragedy” but noted that mortality in aged care from the virus had dropped from 33 per cent in 2020 to 1.7 per cent.

She called for all older Australians to get their boosters, saying it was “the easiest, least fussiest way to stay protected from Covid-19”.

Aged Care Minister Anika Wells. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Martin Ollman

Opposition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston said vaccination rates among aged-care residents had plummeted to “worrying lows” and “no action has been taken by the government to ensure residents can appropriately protect themselves from the virus”.

Senator Ruston said there were now more Covid deaths in aged care in the first eight months of the Albanese government than the entire first two years of the pandemic.

“It is tragic to see that the number of Covid-related cases and deaths in aged-care homes have doubled since October, and yet we have heard nothing from the government about what they are doing to support the sector through this summer wave,” Senator Ruston said.