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Coronavirus Australia live update: Victoria records six deaths and 384 Covid-19 cases and NSW 14 new cases – latest news
State suspends non-urgent elective surgery as Covid-19 cases in nursing homes rises, while NSW announces 14 new cases. Follow live updatesVictoria records 384 new cases and six deathsHow Australia’s health workers are getting Covid-19Follow the global live blogSign up for Guardian Australia’s coronavirus email 4.32am BST Asked if the federal government has dropped the ball on managing the aged care outbreak, given the earlier experience with Newmarch House in Sydney, Hunt said it was “exactly the opposite”.It’s precisely because of the experience we’ve had that we’re able to set up an aged care response centre. To think of it this way, Victoria - let me look at the figures here - has had approximately 6,900 cases since 1 July. That is an explosion of cases in one city of one state. Against that background, there are no areas that immune. We’ve seen that our hospital staff have been sentinels for their community. Equally, the aged care staff have been sentinels. The fact that, from time to time, public health units will indicate that staff will have to isolate, I think it important to consider whether all staff need to isolate immediately because it’s critical that there is a transition plan. That’s a decision made at the state level, so we respect that but it’s absolutely critical... that there is a clear warning, that there’s a clear transition plan so as staff can be put in place. But the fact that we’ve been able to setup the PPE to make sure that there is a national call for staff, that AUSMAT is available, because so many Victorian staff, whether aged care or hospital or health worker have had to isolate is an indication of the preparation that goes into this. 4.30am BST Australia’s chief nursing and midwifery officer, Alison McMillan, said she worked in St Basil’s Home for the Aged, the site of the biggest aged care outbreak in Melbourne at the moment, and one which has been identified as having had significant failures.She urged nurses not to be afraid of working in aged care settings.I know that for many nurses and patient care attendants who work in aged care, this is a challenging time and I acknowledge that there is a fear associated with caring for complex cases in a Covid-19 situation. But our role is to provide care and compassion for those who are the most vulnerable and what I’ve seen so far is an enormous effort of nurses coming out of acute hospitals and voluntarily going into aged care facilities and providing that vital care and supporting those people. I, too, have been in a Covid-positive environment. I went to St Basil’s a couple of times last week to work with the facility to help make the decisions we needed to make about movement and staffing. But there is good training for staff and there is plenty of PPE. You need not worry it is not available for you to look after yourself. So please don’t be frightened. Please think about those that need your care so we can support all of those vulnerable Victorians across the state. Continue reading...
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