Aug 03, 2021

Christmas in July party at aged care home turns into “superspreading event”

Christmas in July

All 32 residents of the home’s top floor have been taken to hospital, including those who have not tested positive, as a precautionary measure. No ground floor residents have tested positive to the virus.

Only 50 of the 61 residents at Wyoming Nursing Home in Summer Hill were vaccinated. Of the 11 unvaccinated, seven have tested positive.

The outbreak again demonstrates how extremely important it is that aged care residents are vaccinated.

Teams have been sent to the home to vaccinate any remaining residents who have not yet received the jab, according to the ABC.

Three-quarters of the home’s staff have been vaccinated.

She said authorities are putting measures in place to prevent staff from working across multiple facilities. 

Health Minister Brad Hazzard told a press conference the outbreak is the result of a Christmas in July celebration that became a “superspreading event”.

“Sometimes it is not a good idea to have a Christmas in July right in the middle of a pandemic,” he said. 

“But I do understand that it is an effort to try and provide entertainment and support to residents and those things have to be decided by the aged care facilities.”

However, a spokesperson for Hardi Aged Care, which owns the home, said the event was a regular monthly lunch with a Christmas theme, according to the ABC.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. The age care worker should be punished if they were working at more than one place during a bad period.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Coronavirus is hundreds of times more deadly for people over 60 than people under 40

How deadly is SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19? And what are the risks of death for people of different ages and demographics? These have been hard numbers to calculate during this pandemic. Read More

Is the takeover battle for Australia’s 5th largest aged care provider about to end?

One of Australia’s largest for-profit aged care operators looks likely to be taken over by one of two not-for-profit providers. Do you or someone you know work for any of these aged care facilities? What are your thoughts? Read More

A Harvard Scientist Says This is the One Food You Should Be Eating to Live Longer

According to researchers from Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, there is a type of food that significantly increases life expectancy when compared to meat. The results were reported in a major new study which followed more than 130,000 people for 36 years, monitoring their diet, lifestyle, illness and mortality. So what is type... Read More
Advertisement