“Horrific”: 13th resident at Newmarch House dies from COVID-19
Another resident has died at the Newmarch House aged care facility in Western Sydney after contracting coronavirus. The pandemic death toll at the facility now stands at 13 after a staff member caused an outbreak and worked six shifts despite having mild coronavirus symptoms.
The outbreak started three weeks ago and since then, there are now 59 confirmed cases at the facility in Caddens, with 37 residents and 22 staff testing positive.
Anglicare, the centre’s operator, had a spokesperson confirm that the resident passed away yesterday afternoon and said that the new cases might be “historical transmissions”.
"This is a time of great grief for the family and we want to extend our deepest sympathies," Anglicare said in a statement.
"The coronavirus has had a devastating impact on all our residents and families."
"We will be investigating further how this has occurred."
Premier Gladys Berejiklian told the ABC that the situation at Newmarch House is “horrific” and has called for the Federal Government to intervene.
"The Federal Government [has] involved the Aged Care Assurance Advocacy Association to deal with the matter," she said.
"Because what's happening there isn't acceptable and unfortunately you do notice a difference in the way people who run these aged care homes across the nation are dealing with the issue.
"This particular operator has been left wanting on a number of levels."
Anglicare CEO Grant Millard previously told the ABC that the aged care home had become a “pseudo hospital” since the beginning of the outbreak and explained that staff were doing it tough by undertaking 12 hour shifts in full personal protective equipment.
"What a brave, courageous group of people," he said.
Anglicare has also faced extreme backlash about a lack of communication with families, with many claiming that the phones were hardly ever answered.
Mr Millard said these criticisms were "to an extent … true".
"We have been under extreme pressure."