Coronavirus: Aged-care deaths more than reported

Deaths in aged care now account for 65 per cent of all Australia’s coronavirus deaths, new federal government figures reveal

Federal government figures show the number of Victorian nursing home residents who have died from COVID-19 during the second wave is considerably higher than reported just last week, with residential aged-care deaths accounting for 65 per cent of all COVID deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

Official health department data reveals that as of Sunday, there were 105 deaths in Victorian aged care and 136 overall in Australia of the 208 total deaths from all sources.

Victorian Premier Dan Andrews confirmed on Monday that eight of the 13 deaths in the state in the previous 24 hours had been related to aged care, taking the overall Victorian figure to 113 and the national figure to 144 out of a total 221, or 65 per cent — at least on federal government figures.

The Victorian health department on Monday said 77 coronavirus deaths in the state were linked to aged-care facilities, representing 57 per cent of the state’s total death toll of 136 since the pandemic began.

That figure of 77 is also accepted by the newly formed Victorian Aged Care Response Centre, a commonwealth government-run body created to ­address the COVID-19 outbreak that is affecting more than 100 Victorian nursing homes.

The federal government is responsible for administering aged care. Last Wednesday, its health department’s daily update showed aged-care deaths for Victoria at 47; by Thursday, the number had jumped to 74 even though only 13 deaths were recorded that day.

Asked about the discrepancy, the state government referred The Australian to the VACRC’s figure; the federal health department didn’t respond in time for publication.

The discrepancy is important because on commonwealth figures, the performance of the residential aged-care sector no longer compares as favourably internationally as previously.