A resident has died after contracting COVID-19 at a Warrnambool aged care facility as the number of infections in the region's nursing homes reaches its highest total since the pandemic began.
Latest federal data listed 84 COVID-positive residents and staff across seven south-west aged-care facilities as at July 15.
About half of that total was derived from an outbreak at Mercy Place where there were 22 resident and 18 staff cases.
One death was recorded.
A Mercy Place spokesperson said all cases had since been cleared.
The death comes after an elderly COVID-positive resident, who lived in the McAuley Wing, became Warrnambool's first person to die from the infection in January.
The Standard sought clarification and further detail from Mercy Place relating to the origin of the infection, vaccination status and how the outbreak was being managed.
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While the number of cases at the Hopetoun Road facility remained steady from the previous week, outbreaks at the six remaining homes only emerged in the latest report.
They included:
- Sunnyside House, Camperdown: 11 residents, two staff
- Heywood nursing home: One resident
- Mercy Place Colac: 12 residents, six staff
- Moyne Health Services - Belfast Home: One resident
- Penshurst Nursing Home: One resident, one staff
- Riverside Hostel: One resident, eight staff
The number of resident cases in aged-care facilities has been steadily rising across the state with 1442 listed on July 14 compared to 1037 in the previous week.
There were 210 new COVID cases recorded in the past 24 hours among the five south-west local government areas including 71 in Warrnambool, 35 in Moyne Shire, 28 in Corangamite Shire, 38 in the Southern Grampians Shire and 38 in Glenelg Shire.
There are now 1042 active cases across the region.
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Jessica Greenan
Journalist at The Warrnambool Standard covering Corangamite Shire Council. Sometimes court. Special interest in all things environment.
Journalist at The Warrnambool Standard covering Corangamite Shire Council. Sometimes court. Special interest in all things environment.
