MEMBER for Mallee Anne Webster says the Victorian Government needs to “bring compassion back into the discussion” when it comes to banning visitors from aged-care facilities in country regions.
While many social restrictions have been eased, aged-care restrictions remain unchanged in Victoria, with those living in aged-care centres unable to have visitors or to leave to visit family or friends.
Despite there being no recorded cases of coronavirus in Mildura in more than 13 months, Minister for Health and Aged Care Martin Foley told Sunraysia Daily this week that local facilities were just as “high-risk” as those in Melbourne.
In her weekly column, Dr Webster wrote that many aged-care residents in places like Mildura “feel abandoned”.
“They don’t understand why their families cannot visit,” she wrote. “They have a right to feel forgotten.
“These measures are hurting our elderly and their families. It saddens and angers me to think of all those who have died in aged care during the pandemic without the presence and support of their families.
“The fact is the Victorian Government doesn’t trust us to use common sense and take responsibility for our own actions. “That’s why they continue to rely on heavy-handed restrictions that limit our freedoms.
“However, we need to bring compassion back into this discussion.”
