More than 3,000 of society's most vulnerable people, residential aged care residents, had the COVID-19 virus in the week to 7 June 2024, as another 49 residents died from the virus.
There were 1,362 cases among staff, which will place further strain on aged care operators that are trying to meet care minute targets.
The high rates of the virus could be the result of the newest strain to reach Australian shores. FLiRT, a variant of the JN.1 strain, is more transmissable than earlier variants, but is generally less severe.
Vaccination rates plummet
For the week to 5 June 2024, only 41.6% of aged care residents have received a booster shot in the last six months, despite the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care recommending over-75s receive a COVID-19 vaccine dose every six months. The previous month, 43.2% of aged care residents had received a booster in the last six months.
"We need to do better and we can do better," infectious diseases expert Professor Robert Booy (pictured) told The SOURCE.
Vaccination against COVID-19 is "life saving", he added.
"There is an easy way to protect a lot of people that is safe and effective. It should be given in much larger numbers than we're doing," he said.
"Clearly there's some lethargy [in residential aged care relating to vaccination] and people feel a bit over it, but you can't be over a problem that's still a problem."
In total, there have been 6,629 deaths from COVID-19 in residential aged care over the course of the pandemic.
