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 COVID-free’ – 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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