Providers warn of aged care chaos. Other COVID-19 news

The sector wants a rescue support package of $1.296 billion warning that some facilities, already at risk of collapse before the pandemic, are at breaking point.

A recent independent report by accountancy firm StewartBrown reveals escalating financial distress across the residential aged care sector. The latest StewartBrown report shows the number of residential care homes operating at a loss jumped from 42 to 56 per cent in a year, with this rate rising to 71 per cent in outer regional and remote areas.

"Financial performance has deteriorated for aged care homes of all sizes and this is putting care at risk, especially during this time of national alert, when providers are doing everything possible to guard residents and staff against COVID-19," said industry peak Leading Aged Services Australia (LASA) chief executive Sean Rooney.

The rescue package proposal includes over $250 million for home care (182 days at $10 per day for up to 150,000 people); $546 million for residential care (182 days at $15 per day for 200,000 people); $500 million pool of funds for information technology measures and training to reduce social isolation and loneliness; a workforce fund, which depends on the number of workers who will be required to isolate; securing Refundable Accommodation Deposits (RADs) and making improvements to the Aged Care Funding Instrument (ACFI) to keep providers financially viable.

"To be in the strongest position to save lives and slow the spread of the virus, the sector has to be financially sustainable," said Mr Rooney.

One of the latest aged care facilities to report cases is Newmarch House in the Sydney suburb of Caddens where a sick employee infected several residents and staff with the number of reported cases increasing daily. The worker also did two shifts at Greystanes Disability Services in Jamisontown, prompting residents to be isolated in their rooms and some staff going into self-isolation.

There have also been several deaths of elderly residents resulting from an infection cluster at the Dorothy Henderson Lodge in Macquarie Park and the Federal Government announced it will act immediately to test for COVID-19 at three aged care facilities across Tasmania's north west coast as the campaign to stop the spread of the virus in that state ramps up.

This decision follows confirmation from the Tasmanian Government that contact tracing from the North West Regional Hospital and Private Hospital had identified a health care worker who had also worked at three aged care facilities. The worker tested positive to the virus on Thursday.

In other COVID-19 nursing home news, LASA announced it is partnering with Altura Learning to train and place large numbers of people displaced from other sectors into the industry.

Mr Rooney said the plan was to implement a temporary aged care assistant support role to provide help with daily living activities and free up existing staff to focus on critical health care.

Some of the roles for the new staff would be assistance with meal distribution, preparation and supervision, assistance with mobilising care recipients including use of a wheelchair, assistance with non-intimate hygiene such as brushing teeth and hair and hand and face hygiene, social assistance and recreational acitvities, bed making, distribution of clean linen and general administrative duties.

"To maintain care continuity, we're asking people who may have lost their positions in other sectors such as tourism, hospitality, beauty or retail to try out a new and rewarding career," said Mr Rooney.

"Our aged care workforce has already been impacted by COVID-19 with increasing numbers likely to be absent due to quarantine and testing regimes."

The Federal Government has also announced measures to ensure continuity of staff during the pandemic including a partnership with online support worker marketplace Mable which would be called upon in an emergency to help providers if they were unable to fill critical skills because of infection or if staff had to self isolate.

Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck announced new emergency response teams which can be deployed to residential aged care facilities where local staff are unable to provide care. The government has engaged healthcare solutions provider Aspen Medical to deploy the teams immediately to a facility if a significant outbreak occurs with nurse first responders on standby in every state and territory.

Remote locums can also be called upon to support aged care providers in remote Australia.

Staff and residents of aged care facilities across Australia are being urged to roll up their sleeves for flu vaccinations under a sweeping campaign to protect their health.

Mr Colbeck said it was particularly important staff and residents of residential aged care facilities received the flu vaccination this season as the fight to combat the spread of COVID-19 continues.

"The Government has asked Primary Health Networks (PHNs) across Australia to assist in the coordination of flu vaccinations in their region," Mr Colbeck said.

"This health emergency is unprecedented and as we edge closer to winter we want to make sure staff and residents have the protection of the flu vaccination."

PHNs will contact all residential aged care providers by region to undertake a needs assessment and coordinate influenza vaccination programs for those services with an identified need.

The provisions may include sourcing vaccine supply and supplying qualified vaccine administrators.

"The flu vaccination is an important way we can make sure people stay healthy and don't end up in the emergency department which could overburden our hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic," said Mr Colbeck.

The key decision-maker for health emergencies, the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee has recommended all residential aged care staff and visitors - including family, friends or external workers - be vaccinated by May 1, 2020. People who have not been vaccinated against the flu will be excluded from aged care facilities after May 1.

Prime minister Scott Morrison told the country yesterday that there were promising signs throughout the country but said there were three things we need to get in place before we can consider relaxing lock-down restrictions - more extensive testing, greater tracing capability and local response capability.

"We need that ability to move very fast to be able to lock down an outbreak where it occurs and to ensure that it does not transmit more broadly within the community. If we are going to move to an environment where there are fewer restrictions then you need these three things in place."

He told radio station 3AW that some restrictions could be relaxed in as litttle as four weeks but the 1.5 metre social distancing rule could be in place for a year or until a vaccine was available although there was no guarantee there would be a vaccine. There was never a vaccine for SARS or MERS he said.

Confidence continues to rise in Australia's health system (79 per cent, up from 55 per cent six weeks ago) and in government (65 per cent up 6 per cent in a week).

The figures come from research company Newgate.

In rating the Government's response: