Christmas and the New Year period was meant to be a relatively quiet time for the aged care sector, but with Omicron cases spreading widely throughout the community, the first month of 2022 has been deadly for aged care residents.
As of 28 January, 389 deaths in aged care homes have been recorded this month alone, compared to 282 deaths in the entire year of 2021.
There are currently 9,643 residents and 14,257 staff infected with COVID-19 in the sector.
The federal government, which has responsibility for the aged care sector, says it has acted to ensure a constant supply of PPE (personal protective equipment) and rapid antigen tests for aged care homes.
There are also concerns that the booster vaccine rollout in aged care homes has been too slow.
In New South Wales, which has the highest number of outbreaks in aged care homes of 555, the issue has been highlighted in the fatality figures.
Sean Rooney, CEO of Leading Age Services Australia, says with more cases documented in Australia of a new su- variant of Omicron, BA.2, there is an urgent need to accelerate the rollout of the booster vaccine in the sector.
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