Alarm at impact on state’s aged care

AGED-CARE facilities are facing an “emergency situation”, with more than 100 active outbreaks across Queensland, including in Cairns, pushing staff to the brink and forcing elderly residents to lock down in their rooms for weeks on end.

Recent federal government figures from January 14 have shown 133 outbreaks across the state’s 500-plus aged-care facilities, involving 367 residents and 620 staff.

Nationally, there are 1107 outbreaks in aged care.

With severe staff shortages, Aged and Community Services Australia chief executive Paul Sadler said aged care was in an “emergency situation” and advised visitations be cut back.

“Aged-care providers welcome scrutiny from the regulator – the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. It is important that everyone acts responsibly and that visits to residential care homes of any sort are kept to a minimum during Covid-19 outbreaks,” Mr Sadler said.

Rising cases and increased lockdowns have meant residents are stuck without direct contact with their loved ones for long periods of time.

“Because it’s so widespread in the community, we’re getting constant restarts of the lockdowns. The reality is residents might be locked down for weeks and weeks in their rooms,” Mr Sadler said.

Meanwhile, the virus has stretched staff, with Mr Sadler saying the current outbreak had “sidelined huge sections” of the workforce.

“We have aged-care homes reporting up 25 to 35 per cent of their staff off because of isolation rules,” Mr Sadler said.

“Many older Australians are dealing with anxiety and isolation, as more residential homes deal with outbreaks.”