Covid-19 may have spread to two residents at Victorian aged care facility, Bill Shorten says
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Partly vaccinated residents at the aged care facility sent into lockdown after a worker tested positive may have been infected, Labor MP Bill Shorten has said.
And there are fears the virus has seeped into a second aged care facility after a worker tested positive at the BlueCross Western Gardens nursing home in Sunshine.
The Arcare centre in Melbourne’s west was sent into lockdown after revelations a worker tested positive to Covid-19 despite receiving her first vaccine dose.
Mr Shorten, whose electorate includes the centre, on Monday told ABC News Breakfast he had heard second-hand accounts from the centre that the virus had spread to other partially vaccinated residents.
“Worryingly, both the staff member who recorded positive and one resident, possibly two, (who) have contracted Covid were both vaccinated in the first round,” he said.
“So it just emphasises to me, and I think to everyone listening, that two vaccinations is what we need.
“When I hear the federal government saying one vaccination somehow (the) goal … you need two. One is not enough.”
Health Minister Greg Hunt revealed the worker felt ill and got tested on Friday, returning a positive result the following day.
RELATED: ‘Extreme concern’: Victorian aged care centre in lockdown after worker tests positive to Covid-19
“Common work began immediately between the commonwealth and the Victorian government. And both the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre, led by the commonwealth, in partnership with the Victorian Department of Health, I think, followed an exemplary process so far,” he said on Sunday.
“They were vaccinated on May 12, and so it’s some considerable time now that the worker has been vaccinated and that was done as part of the in-facility residential program.”
The Health Minister said 53 of the centre’s 76 residents had consented to be vaccinated.
Mr Shorten conceded it was a “worry” that 15 per cent of the residents had declined the vaccine but said the Arcare centre was “fortunate” to have leftover vaccines on May 12.
“It also worries me that Mr Hunt thinks that everyone’s had one dose at our care … it doesn’t match up with what I’m hearing on the ground,” he said.
“But of course if people are refusing to take the vaccination, I’ve just got to say to them: why?
“Even if you think you’re bulletproof, just think about your neighbour down the hallway or the worker who’s caring for you.”
Meanwhile, in a letter sent to families by BlueCross Western Gardens aged care home and published on 3AW, the facility said all residents were being quarantined in their rooms and were symptom-free despite a worker testing positive on Sunday night.
The worker was a close contact of a positive worker at another aged care facility. It’s not known if the Blue Cross Western Gardens staff member worked alongside the other positive aged care worker.
NCA NewsWire has reached out to Victoria Health and the Arcare Centre for comment.