A Baulkham Hills aged care facility remains on high alert, with two new positive COVID-19 cases discovered overnight, bringing the total number of infected residents to five.
The two new cases are said to be aged in their 70’s, one of which was not vaccinated.
Whilst operators at the SummitCare facility say positive cases are not yet displaying symptoms, all five cases and one close contact have been transferred to Westmead Hospital for observation.
It is believed the cases were infected by a staff member who was not yet fully vaccinated.
Last week the Federal Government announced an $11 million grant program to support mandatory vaccination of residential aged care workers.
The National Cabinet endorsed the decision of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee to make the vaccination mandatory to this sector by mid-September.
SummitCare Chief Operating Officer Michelle Sloane said to the media that vaccinations for aged care workers should have been mandated sooner.
“If we said to all of our unvaccinated staff, “don’t come to work” then there’d be no one to care,” she said.
“That is not just us but every aged care business across Australia and every hospital across Australia.”
Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant confirmed to the media that 96 per cent of residents inside the facility are fully vaccinated.
However, she said “we are still not out of the woods”, until 14 days since residents were last exposed to the infected staff member.
Troy Dodds is Parra News' Managing Editor and Breaking News Reporter. He has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working with some of Australia’s leading media organisations. In 2023, he was named Editor of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.