Coronavirus Australia live update: Covid elderly care failures criticized as speculation over extension of Victoria lockdown | Australia News

Richard Colbeck says that the “single site” staff order is sent when an area is declared a hotspot. But it looks like when that hotspot declaration is lifted, so does the order (and funding), which means staff have to work in multiple nursing homes for the elderly. I say “seems” like because Colbeck doesn’t give a straightforward answer.

Francoise Kelly request Richard Colbeck where the “Sense of urgency” is.

He says they are following the advice.

Richard Colbeck talk to ABC RN this morning. He is the Minister of Elderly Care. And he is still “comfortable” with the deployment of the vaccine.

But he cannot tell you how many elderly caregivers have been vaccinated. Because there is no one who collects this information. They have now asked vendors to provide this information so that they cannot try to resolve it.

“I’m not going to give you a number I’m not sure about,” he said.

In addition, there is no real vaccination program for older care workers administered by the federal government. The edict is to vaccinate staff where vaccines remain after residents have been vaccinated. Beyond that, providers can set up a program themselves, or older caregivers can see their GP or go to a hub – do it themselves, in other words.

Colbeck says it was to reduce confusion so that there were no mixed vaccines.

Christophe knaus and Melissa Davey I looked at what happened with the federal government’s response to senior care – and it doesn’t look good. At any level.

Welcome to Politics Live.

Parliament – and the estimates – are back for the first time this week, but it’s the events of the day without yesterday’s sitting that are still on everyone’s mind.

The federal government is scrambling to explain how elderly care once experienced a Covid epidemic, given everything the industry and those under its care have been through in the past year. The Covid outbreak in Victoria has once again shown the vulnerabilities of federally funded and regulated nursing homes: While staff at state-run facilities cannot work at other sites, staff private institutions – which fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government – is still able to do so.

It became a problem in this outbreak – again – after a staff member caught Covid from a colleague at one center and then worked at another center.

So far, the federal government has not been able to give a reason other than that there is not enough staff. Greg Hunt said yesterday that states could stop it with a public health order, but that would mean workers – who work at multiple sites in order to earn a living wage – would be forced to lose their wages. Policy and compensation settings have changed in state-run facilities. This did not happen at the federal level, despite the recommendations of the royal commission.

We’ll keep you posted on all of this, and all that is going on with Victoria. There are fears the lockdown will be extended beyond the end of this week – authorities did not seem confident yesterday they had it under control. There are more than 270 exposure sites and 4000 people considered to be primary or secondary contacts. Each day has seen four to five stubborn new cases – most of which have been linked – but the numbers indicate an extension of the lockdown is likely. I am really sorry. We will bring you everything you need to know ASAP.

We’ll also update you on what’s happening in Parliament and the Estimates hearings – Mike Bowers is with you as always, with Katharine Murphy, Sarah Martin, Paul Karp and Daniel Hurst.

It’s a sitting day, you have Amy Remeikis with you most of the day. I’m just at my second coffee – but a third absolutely calls me.

Ready? Let’s go.