Aged Care Minister Anika Wells says the end of defence force support in aged care will not trigger a new aged care crisis, as antivirals will help protect against a winter wave of COVID in the sector.
"One of the first things I did was write to all the providers to urge them to do the fourth winter dose," she said.
Interim chief executive of the Aged and Community Care Providers Association, Paul Sadler, said the additional protections were welcome. "The requirements for when people need to isolate and for how long have been significantly reduced." she said. "It could be that it's as widespread as it was back in January, and that could have a substantial impact on the availability of staff in aged care.
"I think it may well be that this needs to be extended even beyond that. The ADF involvement does highlight the one area that we remain very concerned about, and that is the availability of staff," he said.
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