More than 160 Queensland residential aged care facilities are dealing with active COVID-19 outbreaks, with the third Omicron wave threatening to hit harder than the January peak.
Queensland yesterday had 937 people in hospital beds with either COVID-19 or influenza.
That is teetering close to 1,000 beds – the equivalent of the entire Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Queensland's largest public health facility – being taken up just to treat COVID-19 and flu patients.
Queensland is expected to need far more 1,000 beds just for COVID-19 at the peak of the combined BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron wave, due in the next few weeks.
Non-urgent elective surgery is already being hit hard across the state.
Federal Health Department data shows 161 of Queensland's 498 aged care facilities — about a third — have ongoing COVID outbreaks, with 776 residents testing positive.
Paul Sadler, the interim CEO of the Aged and Community Care Providers Association (ACCPA), warned the third Omicron wave was likely to have a major impact on nursing homes.
He said the last two weeks of July and all of August were expected to be "high-risk periods for aged care".
Outbreaks at two Brisbane aged care facilities
The Federal Health Department's latest weekly COVID-19 aged care report reveals the Portofino Hamilton aged care facility in Brisbane's north-east has experienced the state's largest outbreak during the third Omicron wave with 101 cases comprising 78 residents and 23 staff.
Only one resident and two staff remain active cases.
Aged Care Provider Vacenti CEO Julian Casagrande said most residents and staff were "asymptomatic".
"We have in place strict infection control protocols which are managed in unison with the public health unit," Mr Casagrande said.
"These have been reviewed internally and externally at regular internals with no issues flagged by our regulatory body.
"All staff are trained in the usage of personal protective equipment and in infection control protocols and we have sufficient PPE stock."
Mr Casagrande said the "nature of the elongated journey of COVID-19" had the aged care provider balancing isolation and the wellbeing of residents.
"Unfortunately, it is not possible to eliminate infections without enforcing measures that would negatively impact resident wellbeing," he said.
Zion at Nundah, in Brisbane's inner-north, run by Lutheran Services, has recorded 79 positive cases among residents during the latest Omicron wave, and 11 cases in staff.
However, as of yesterday, just one active case remained and the site had reopened to visitors.
Three residents with COVID-19 are listed as having died during the outbreak.
"In line with our local public health unit's advice, any COVID-19 positive residents were isolated very quickly," Lutheran Services CEO Nick Ryan said in a statement last night.
"We then moved to full isolation as case numbers increased to manage the situation.
"In addition, we increased cleaning protocols, require a negative rapid antigen test from anyone entering the community, including staff, and undertake regular surveillance and close contact testing."
Mr Ryan said all eligible residents who had chosen to be vaccinated against COVID-19 had received three doses.
"A planned vaccination clinic to administer a fourth dose has been rescheduled under guidance from the public health unit," he said.
Mr Sadler said while he was concerned more aged care facilities would be engulfed by the latest COVID-19 wave than previous Omicron outbreaks, residents were in a better position than at the start of the year in terms of higher rates of vaccination and access to anti-viral medications.
"We are seeing an impact of death and disease in aged care continuing."
Aged care staffing remains the 'biggest risk'
Queensland Health statistics show that of the state's 1,338 deaths, more than 90 per cent were people aged 65 years and older.
Across Australia, 166,875 of the nation's aged care residents have had three or more doses of a COVID-19 vaccine – 95.1 per cent of the eligible population.
More than two-thirds of eligible nursing home residents – or 95,007 people – have received four or more shots.
Mr Sadler said that with vaccination levels relatively high across the aged care sector, his key concern was the latest COVID wave's impact on staffing availability.
He said it was common in the first Omicron wave through late December, January and early February for aged care facilities to have 30 per cent of their staff off sick at any one time.
"We had one service in Sydney that hit 50 per cent of all of its staff being unavailable," Mr Sadler said.
"The surge workforce is not really any more available now than it was in January — staffing is our biggest risk.
"I think we would be able to reactivate that fairly quickly, if needed. My understanding is they're basically on stand-by."
Flu epidemic has peaked, CHO says
Queensland Chief Health Officer John Gerrard said most of the people being admitted to hospitals with COVID-19 were aged in their 60s and older.
He said it was "not surprising" Omicron was widespread in aged care, given the amount of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, that was circulating in the community.
Dr Gerrard "strongly" advised people to wear masks in crowded indoor environments and reminded Queenslanders masks were still mandated on public transport, planes and healthcare settings, including hospitals, doctors' surgeries and in aged care and disability accommodation.
But he said a large-scale indoor mask mandate was "not something we're looking at, at the moment".
Dr Gerrard said 860 people with COVID-19 were being treated in Queensland hospitals yesterday, with a dozen requiring intensive care, including four on life support.
As the COVID-19 wave intensifies, the flu epidemic has peaked.
Dr Gerrard said just 77 people were in the state's public hospitals with influenza yesterday — way down on previous weeks.
Queenslanders can access a free flu vaccination until July 17.
