Two people have died at Anglicare Newmarch House, as a quarter of the western Sydney nursing home’s residents test positive for coronavirus.
Anglicare confirmed a 94-year-old man with Covid-19 died at the home in Kingswood on Sunday morning.
“A coroner will be the person to confirm the cause of death,” a spokesman told AAP.
A 93-year-old resident in the home died on Saturday after testing positive for Covid-19.
A total of 26 residents and 13 staff have now tested positive for coronavirus.
An outbreak occurred in the home after a staff member worked for six days without knowing she had the virus, as she had only mild symptoms of a sore throat and running nose. The current federal government advice is that health and aged care workers can be tested if they develop fever or respiratory symptoms specifically. This guidance is the same for New South Wales.
NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant said there was an “extensive intervention in place” but the most recently reported cases were likely to have been infected many days ago.
“We can’t change those cases,” she told reporters on Sunday. “Our aim is to provide high-quality care to the residents, manage and support the workers and support their loved ones.
“There’s nothing we can do around preventing those cases and I think this extensive testing has identified the cases early.
“Now we need to stop the spread.”
NSW cases now total 2,957, with 40% acquired locally or interstate.
Nepean Hospital has set up a unit at Newmarch so that all residents who test positive for coronavirus will be cared for in the home, with access to hospital resources and specialists.
Anglicare has also sought to bring more staff on site to ensure care for all residents.
