Former Age Discrimination Commissioner and Federal MP Susan Ryan has blamed systemic problems within aged care for what she says is a repeat of the Newmarch House outbreak.

Victoria now has over 450 COVID-19 cases linked to residential care and home care. St Basil’s Home for the Aged in Fawkner has the largest cluster with 73 cases reported.

“It’s very distressing to see the Newmarch episode kind of happening all over again with St Basil’s,” Ms Ryan told ABC Radio Melbourne.

19 residents died at Sydney’s Newmarch House in its 65-day outbreak, with 37 residents and 34 staff infected.

“It’s very hard to understand why the new improved procedures and processes, and the extra input from the Federal Government, why it didn’t have the effect of stopping the spread,” Ms Ryan added.

The Commissioner acknowledged it was hard to completely stop infections getting into homes, “but we all would have hoped that as soon as there was a positive test, that emergency action would happen and it wouldn’t have got to the stage where you’ve got 70 or more people testing positive at St Basil's.”

“I really can’t understand how it happened as quickly as that, when we had thought there were lessons learnt…by the Newmarch episode,” Ms Ryan said.