ACCPA has warned there are now more than 1,000 active COVID-19 outbreaks in aged care facilities nationally and called for urgent action to protect residents, staff and the broader community.
ACCPA Interim CEO Paul Sadler said, “The Winter Omicron wave has started and it is ratcheting up the pressure on Australia’s aged care system.
“One of the great concerns about this latest COVID wave is the major impact on the availability of aged care staff, with thousands already infected. Aged care services are telling us they have 10-15 per cent of their staff isolating or absent due to illness at the moment.
“The next weeks of July and all of August are expected to be high-risk periods for aged care and covid. ACCPA is concerned that anywhere up to two-thirds of aged care homes could be affected by active outbreaks over coming weeks.
“The increased availability in surge workforce including the Australian Defence Force over the past week has been welcome, but there is still a shortfall. The reality is we can’t leave older people without adequate levels of care for too long.
“The aged care sector needs greater support for a surge workforce including defence support until at least September.
“The Federal Government’s recent Winter Plan was a good start, but we will need more. We need a plan to make up the workforce shortfall more permanently, build resilience in the system for future outbreaks and support care reforms recommended by the Royal Commission.
“The coming weeks are critical for aged care. We must do all we can to put the protection of older people first and support our aged care workers,” he said.
As of 22 July, there are active COVID outbreaks in 1,013 aged care facilities (about 37 per cent of all homes), with more than 6,000 residents and 3,400 staff infected. Tragically, 2,301 aged care residents have died from COVID in 2022, 114 residents in the past week alone.
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Paul Sadler is available for interview.
Media contact: Jane Garcia (Essential) 0455 111 593
About Aged & Community Care Providers Association:
The Aged & Community Care Providers Association (ACCPA) is the national organisation representing all providers of aged care to older Australians, delivering retirement living, seniors housing, residential care, home care, community care and related services.
