MILDURA aged-care residents have been “putting on a brave face” as they remain lumped in the same category as those in COVID-19 hot spots.
Despite there being no recorded cases of the coronavirus in Mildura in more than 13 months, Minister for Health and Aged Care Martin Foley said local facilities were just as “high-risk” as those in Melbourne.
“All aged-care facilities are classified as high-risk locations, because of that enormous potential impact if COVID were to get into one of those very vulnerable populations,” Mr Foley said.
The seven-day snap lockdown from May 28 put Victorians under some of the toughest restrictions to date, with those living in aged-care centres unable to have visitors or to leave to visit family or friends.
While many social restrictions have been lifted, aged-care restrictions remained unchanged.
No visitors are permitted into aged-care centres or other residential settings except for end-of-life reasons and other excepted reasons, such as essential care and support.
Chaffey Aged Care chief executive Darren Midgley said while he understood there needed to be “some level of restrictions” he didn’t believe regional areas should be treated the same as COVID-19 hot spots.
“It’s difficult, I don’t think there is an easy answer,” Mr Midgley said.
“We have to comply with the various health directives but I would like to see a level of relaxation, particularly in regional areas.
“The latest round of lockdowns has probably fuelled a lot of anxiety. Before that aged-care recipients could come and go, with residents able to go and visit their sons’ and daughters’ houses, but the current restrictions stopped that with only five reasons to leave home.
“There is a sense of frustration but most families are understanding — although it does take a toll — and we are now 18 months into various restrictions and it really has had an impact, including impacting our staff, who just want to go back to normal.”
Mr Midgley said staff had tried to go “the extra mile” to ensure people in care felt connected to their families and the community.
“Online platforms such as Facetime and Skype have been regularly used and window visits are used,” he said.
A Mildura woman with a family member in aged care, who asked not to be named, has seen first-hand the impact the restrictions have had aged-care residents.
“Residents get anxious,” she said. “Many have family there often to keep them uplifted and do things for them.
“It’s depressing for residents not seeing people.
“It’s hard work keeping (our family member) engaged (when we can’t see them).
“The residents try to put a brave face on, but it’s hard to stay positive.”
The woman questioned what more aged-care facilities would need to do before they could reopen for visitation.
“While I understand the need for caution, our local facilities have processes in place to manage this (situation) safely. “You can’t get into one of these places (aged-care facilities) without a temperature check, logging in, and answering a series of questions,” she said.
“We’re allowing flexibility in all other aspects of the local community. They’re saying gyms can open up, and people can go to the Sesame Street Circus.”
“We haven’t had a case here for so long. At what point will they say they will allow visitors back into these facilities?”
Sunraysia Daily put the question to Mr Foley during a press conference with regional news outlets on Thursday.
When asked what criteria would need to be met for aged-care homes to reopen, Mr Foley said the government made a decision based on the variants present in the community and where unexplained chains of transmission might be.
“There is a whole range of different factors that the public health team look at, how we deal with high-risk facilities and at the most pointy end of our most careful, cautious response,” he said.
“That would depend on where this moving transition, unexplained chains of transition might be: upstream or downstream.
“It would depend on the nature of the variants, particularly their activity. The so-called Delta variant is typically nastier than the Kappa variant that are circulating in the community at the moment, and it’s also around the advice of where do we see that movement of the virus potentially happening.”
While Mr Foley said regional Victoria was set for further easing of restrictions next week, it was unclear whether aged-care centres would be among those to change.
