Tara Murray
Families of residents in a locked-down aged care facility in Brimbank have been left furious after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19.
The staff member who worked across multiple aged care facilities is believed to have caught the virus off a staff member at Arcare in Maidstone.
While all residents and staff have since recorded negative tests, residents are classified as tier one contacts and have to isolate for 14 days.
A family member of a resident at BlueGardens took to social media saying that she was fuming.
“[The] private facility run by the federal government have failed every person working there and the residents,” she said.
“They learnt nothing, fixed nothing.”
A statement by BlueCross said it had actively discouraged staff working across multiple sites wherever possible.
Arcare, which has multiple sites across Brimbank, said it had introduced a new package to ensure all Arcare staff only work at their primary place of work and would be compensated for forgoing shifts at other locations.
Last week, the federal government reintroduced a ban on aged care staff working across multiple facilities.
BlueCross said asymptomatic testing and ongoing vaccination of residents has been, and continues to be, a major priority of its overall COVID-19 safety management plan.
“We have facilitated vaccination of all residents who consented to receive the vaccine as soon as supplies have become available,” the statement said.
“We have very strongly encouraged all staff members to be vaccinated, running our own information and education detailing how and where our staff members can receive the vaccination and other key information.”
The Victorian government last week set up a five-day blitz to help all aged care workers to get vaccinated.
