Tara Murray
An aged care facility in Sunshine has been locked down after a staff member returned a positive COVID-19 test on Sunday.
In a letter to residents and their families, BlueCross confirmed a staff member who works at its Western Gardens facility had tested positive.
BlueCross confirmed the positive cause stating that the staff member was a close contact of a care worker who tested positive while working at a separate aged care facility.
The worker last worked at the facility on May 28. All staff and residents underwent asymptomatic testing on that day.
“I can confirm that all tests returned a negative result including the staff member who has subsequently returned a positive test,” the letter stated.
“We remain under the direction of DHHS [Department of Health and Human Services] who have advised us to quarantine all residents in their rooms.
”We are closely monitoring all residents for any symptoms of COVID-19. At this stage, all are symptom free.”
The letter said that 76 per cent of residents in the facility have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
A BlueCross statement said that the physical and emotional wellbeing of our residents and staff remains their priority.
“We have a dedicated Connections Coordinator and
Allied Health specialists available to support residents and families.
“We will continue to provide regular updates to all residents, families and staff members.”
Health minister Martin Foley said at a press conference on Monday morning, the person worked at both the Arcare Aged Care facility in Maidstone and the BlueCross facility in Sunshine.
The person is yet to be vaccinated.
