Christmas in July party at nursing becomes superspreader event
<div class="body_text redactor-styles redactor-in">A party held at the Wyoming Nursing Home in Summer Hill in NSW so far has 18 residents and two staff members testing positive for COVID-19, leading to it being branded a "Delta superspreader event".
<p>The Nursing Home stated on Monday that by Tuesday, just over half of the nursing home’s residents (including people who haven’t necessarily tested positive) will be in hospital as a precautionary measure.</p>
<p>NSW Minister for Health, Brad Hazzard said at the daily COVID press conference yesterday: “I understand that the actual numbers are believed to have occurred at a superspreading event that occurred in the aged care facility.”</p>
<p>“Sometimes it is not a good idea to have a Christmas in July right in the middle of a pandemic but I do understand that it is an effort to try and provide entertainment and support to residents and those things have to be decided by the aged care facilities.”</p>
<p>Since Hazzard spoke, the nursing home has hit back, saying the event was just a regular mealtime which had been made to look a bit festive with some Christmas decorations.</p>
<p>In a statement, the Wyoming Nursing Home said: “To clarify, a normal lunch was held for our residents but with Christmas decorations and some carols played to them on our speaker.”</p>
<p>Another worrying point is the fact not everyone at the facility has been vaccinated. Hazzard noted at the press conference that 10 of the facility’s 61 residents denied the jab in the past for various reasons, including medical ones.</p>
<p>To make it more concerning, around 75% of the nursing home’s staff members had been vaccinated and so health authorities are now offering vaccinations to those workers who reportedly denied it the first time around.</p>
<p>The nurse who first tested positive for COVID-19 last week had had her first dose of a vaccine and she was asymptomatic at the time.</p>
<p><em>Image: Getty imag</em><em>es</em></p>
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