Pearl Residential Village confirms staff and resident Covid cases

A family member of an aged care resident has labelled a Darwin facility as a Covid “time bomb” after a staff member and resident tested positive.

A FAMILY member of an aged care resident has labelled a Darwin facility as a Covid “time bomb” after a staff member and resident tested positive.

The daughter of a Pearl Residential Village resident, who did not wish to be named, said an email was send to families alerting them to a positive case on Friday, February 4. 

She said the email from Southern Cross Care warned families that a resident in the Dinah Wing had tested positive on Friday morning.

The woman said, in the email, Southern Cross Care revealed a staff member had also tested positive earlier in the week.

She said it was concerning that families and residents were not initially told about the positive case among the aged care centre’s staff.

“Why weren’t we notified then?” she asked.

Residential Services Manager Jan Marlborough confirmed a resident had tested positive, was experiencing mild symptoms and was being treated at the centre.

Ms Marlborough said there was testing as directed by public health authorities and all residents had returned negative results.

She said after a Pearl Supported Care staff member tested positive residents and family members from the wing were notified.

“At that stage no action was required from residents or families in other wings, therefore no communication was provided to those outside the wing immediately affected,” Ms Marlborough said.

She said a written update was distributed when the positive resident’s test result was received as a “courtesy” to residents and family.

But the daughter of the Pearl resident said this was not her only concern at the Fannie Bay aged care centre.

She said there had been inconsistent Covid Safe measures, with compliance varying wildly between staff. . 

She said depending on individual staff, there were often no checks of visitors’ temperatures, proof of vaccinations, or even confirmation that visitors were not travelling from interstate.

“I saw two people who didn’t even check in and just walked up the stairs,” she said.

“I knew we would have cases here,” she said. “That’s been a ticking time bomb.”

Ms Marlborough said all the centre’s staff were dedicated to implementing all Covid-Safe protocols diligently and any reports of lapses in these protocols were investigated and addressed immediately.

Originally published as Pearl Residential Village confirms staff and resident Covid cases