Exclusive: Coronavirus clusters are spreading through Victoria's aged care homes and hospitals, infecting healthcare workers, vulnerable patients and elderly residents
While the state has thousands of vacant hospital beds for those infected by the latest outbreak, the lack of targeted planning is expected to place further strain on the budget.
Australian Medical Association Victorian president Julian Rait said he was extremely concerned by the rise in infections in hospitals and aged care homes.Health Purchasing Victoria had wanted fewer than 1000 of the monitors, before eventually agreeing to take about 2000. A Lendlease spokeswoman said it had "no current agreements or works in place at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre".
A staff member at the Doutta Galla Lynch’s Bridge nursing home in Kensington may have unknowingly exposed elderly residents to the virus after attending work on July 2 and 3 while infectious. An employee at Baptcare Karana age care facility in Kew has been infected, but the Health Department said they did not work while infectious.A doctor at Melbourne’s St Vincent’s Hospital tested positive, sending 15 staff into quarantine after potential exposure, while a rehabilitation patient at the Epworth Hospital in Hawthorn was also infected with the virus.
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