The Weekly Advertiser Horsham

Aged-care staff remain vigilant

- BY DYLAN DE JONG

Wimmera aged-care staff are on high alert to protect the safety and wellbeing of their senior residents as Victoria goes back into a statewide lockdown.

Numbers of new daily COVID-19 cases across the state remain in the hundreds as regional Victorians brace for the return of stage-three restrictio­ns tonight.

Victoria’s vulnerable citizens have become the primary subjects of heightened concern in recent weeks, with more than 1100 active cases and more than 100 coronaviru­s deaths linked to outbreaks in the aged-care sector.

Premier Daniel Andrews spoke of his deep concern shortly before declaring a State of Disaster on Sunday afternoon.

“The thought of this virus getting into regional aged care – and wiping out entire generation­s within our regional communitie­s – is something that keeps me up at night,” he said.

Staff members and managers at Stawell aged-care centre Eventide Homes responded by doubling protective measures.

Chief executive Sue Blakey said the centre had continued to carry out strict preventati­ve measures, in place since the start of the pandemic.

She said all staff needed to fill out a COVID-19 declaratio­n form every two weeks and were under strict instructio­n to stay home if they presented with even the mildest of respirator­y symptoms.

“The form asks questions such as if they’d been in contact with anyone from a hotspot and it’s a case-by-case basis – there’s a risk assessment on that staff member which is determined by a registered nurse,” she said.

“We tell our staff not to come if they’re feeling unwell, even just a sniffle. If they need money to pay bills, we can help out with that.”

In March the centre converted a storage space into an eight-bed isolation wing to prepare for potential outbreaks. “Our idea was that rather than co-hosting residents in the hostel, we would move a positive case immediatel­y to that wing,” Mrs Blakey said.

“We have dedicated staff who can work in that wing if people are unable to be transferre­d straight to hospital. It’s fairly extensive, but we don’t want to have to use it.”

Eventide is home to 97 aged-care residents and 65 residents in independen­t living units.

Mrs Blakey said her 135 staff members, including carers, cleaners and cooks, were working ‘tirelessly’ to reduce risk of transmissi­on.

“We have a lot of younger staff members and they’ve sacrificed a lot in their lives to work here. They’ve been amazing and we can’t do it without them,” she said.

She said family members were also strictly limited to visits on compassion­ate grounds.

“That’s on a case-by-case basis – if a resident or their family is struggling, we are enabling those visits,” she said.

“They go through screening questions, temperatur­e is taken, masks are provided and if they want to be in the same room, they have to wear full PPE.”

Mrs Blakey said everyone had a role to play in protecting the Wimmera’s senior citizens.

“The community needs to do the right thing, wash their hands and wear a mask out in public. The key is keeping it out, not trying to manage it once it gets in,” she said.

“Our slogan here is ‘we’re all in this together and let’s be COVIDFREE’ – we just ask that everyone bear with us through this terrible time and we thank the community for their support.”

Sunnyside

Horsham’s Sunnyside Lutheran Retirement Village chief executive Denise Hooper said her staff members also underwent regular screening and strict visitation measures were in place.

“Staff are really vigilant because there’s the additional scare of the potential of not knowing if they’re infected and then spreading it into the organisati­on,” she said.

“A lot are very conscienti­ous because they get really close to our residents. If you have that care factor of treating them like your mum and dad, you’re not going to put them at risk, you’re going to do the right thing.”

Ms Hooper said she believed the latest round of restrictio­ns was necessary to keep residents safe.

“I was reassuring the residents that I know that while this is hard for them it’s a good thing because it’s preventing more spread,” she said.

“We’re minimising the risk to our organisati­on, so we’re trying to see it as a positive – you either let it go rampant or clamp down and be responsibl­e. Hopefully we will get through this.

“Please follow the government guidelines because this is real, and I don’t want to see more deaths in aged care. We all need to do our part.”

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