The federal government is extending defense force support to Australia’s coronavirus-hit aged care sector.
More than 200 additional military medical personnel will be deployed to nursing homes in the coming weeks, Defense Secretary Richard Marles has announced.
The move came after aged care providers and unions called for Defense Forces support for the sector to be extended beyond the August 12 end date.
More ADF personnel are being deployed to assist in the aged care sector as cases of COVID-19 increase. (Supplied)
There are currently 24 ADF personnel providing support staff in Australian aged care homes, but this number will increase to 220 in the coming weeks.
The sector is currently experiencing similar COVID-19 infection rates to the peak in February.
In the country’s nursing homes, there are 6,000 residents and nearly 3,500 workers who have contracted the virus.
ADF medics will be deployed at the end of September, following an overnight meeting between federal health and defense officials.
The coronavirus crisis in the industry is so bad that federal aged care minister Annika Wells, who is also the sports minister, has decided she cannot attend the Commonwealth Games in England.
“It’s a decision I have not made and could not leave the country lightly,” he told 9News.
“In all conscience, I could not leave the country with elderly care in the face of the current winter wave.”
There are 6,000 cases of coronavirus among aged care residents. Photo: Danielle Smith (Danielle Smith)
It means no federal ministers will represent Australia at the Games starting in Birmingham on Thursday.
But Australian Sports Commission chairman Kieran Perkins will be there.
The announcement of further ADF support comes as a coronial inquest into the Newmarch House aged care outbreak in Sydney, where 19 people died, begins today.
Meanwhile, nine newspapers are reporting that some intensive care unit (ICU) patients in Victoria are being sent home instead of being kept in general wards because of the strain on the state’s health system.
Although highly unusual, this has happened in recent weeks at Footscray and Sunshine hospitals, health authorities said.
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