Coronavirus victim left in home care bed for “10 hours after death”
A coronavirus victim was reportedly left for more than ten hours in a body bag dead on her aged care home bed because the centre had no refrigeration units.
Thelma, a grandmother-of-14, succumbed to the deadly coronavirus at Epping Gardens Aged Care Facility, which is one of the worst affected centres in Victoria, on Tuesday morning.
However 10-hours later after her death, Thelma’s son Tom Hyatt received a call from the aged care centre that left him shocked.
“Well this is the deal she goes, ‘we’ve got no refrigeration facilities here so we can’t put her in the fridge’,” Hyatt claims the aged care centre told him.
“’And your mother’s in a plastic bag and she’s deteriorating while we’re talking’.”
Tom and his brother Laurie told 7NEWS their mother’s death did not receive the dignity she deserved
Hyatt said the aged care home phoned him on Wednesday morning to apologise for the offensive language.
The grandmother-of-14 has since been collected by a funeral home but sadly her sons claim they’ve been told that viewing her body is no longer possible.
Thelma was among nine COVID-19 patients whose death was recorded in Victoria on Wednesday.
Seven of those cases were linked to aged care facilities.
These deaths follow after several aged care homes in the state have been struggling to deal with the outbreaks of coronavirus, which has since prompted the federal government to take action.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the majority of the aged care system have avoided the worst of the crisis.
“We have seen some very distressing and concerning situations arise in a handful of those facilities,” he told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.
Centres with the largest outbreaks are no longer operating as normal aged care homes, he said.
“They have moved effectively into an in-patient care type facility, akin to what you would see in a hospital,” Morrison said.
A number of residents have been moved to hospitals where beds have been freed up.
This new influx of space is a result of the Victorian government’s decision to restrict elective surgeries.
The Australian Defence Force staffed a night shift at Epping Gardens after stood-down workers were quarantined.