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Daily tests of workers in a Sydney nursing home at the center of a COVID-19 outbreak “absolutely” should have happened sooner, a union says.
The testing regimen was established in an attempt to control the outbreak at the Anglicare-run Newmarch House nursing home, where more than a third of all residents and about 26 staff members tested positive for the coronavirus.
Health Services Union NSW General Secretary Gerard Hayes said Monday he should not have taken the deaths of 14 Newmarch House residents to present the daily evidence from the staff.
The tests should have been done “across the board” two months ago when there was an outbreak at the Dorothy Henderson Lodge nursing home in northwest Sydney, she said.
“We know that elder care is such a vulnerable sector of the community and it should have been done from day one,” Hayes told ABC radio on Monday.
“It is vitally important that people get tested to make sure that something that may or may not be eradicated.”
NSW Health is running the tests at Newmarch House, which learned of its outbreak on April 11.
“We remain grateful for the support of the Commonwealth and New South Wales governments,” an Anglicare spokesperson told AAP on Monday.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said over the weekend that he was “quite satisfied” that Anglicare was doing everything possible to stop the virus, but was saddened by the confirmation of new cases of COVID-19 in the installation in the last days.
Investigations are underway to discover how staff members, whom Anglicare says had experience in infectious disease situations, contracted the virus.
Until now, genomic sequencing had shown that the virus that entered the home had links to “various other groups” in the community, said NSW Director of Health Kerry Chant.
The department is open to the possibility that the virus has not emerged solely through the first known case: a nurse who worked at the facility for six days with mild symptoms.
“What we are trying to do is identify the index case … and that requires reviewing all medical records, re-interviewing staff, trying to find other chains,” he told reporters on Monday.
“Was there any other presentation at that time or at that time? We’re just trying to see if links or strings are missing.”
Dr. Chant said the results of some serology tests were pending, but “could be a dead end.”
“Sometimes I have to be honest, we didn’t really find that first case,” he said.
“All I can say is that the genetic sequencing indicates that there are similarities, this strain is the strain that was in the wider Penrith area.”
