Hundreds died in aged care as sector claims it warned NSW about Omicron wave

The NSW government was warned late last year that the aged care sector was not prepared for the Omicron wave, according to an industry expert who says the state’s decision to push ahead with reopening resulted in hundreds of deaths.

A NSW parliamentary hearing into the government’s response to the pandemic also heard from healthcare union officials who revealed the conditions nurses and doctors had been subjected to during the Omicron wave, with some resorting to wearing incontinence underwear during their shifts.

Aged Care and Community Services Australia chief executive Paul Sadler told the committee on Friday that the sector warned the NSW government in late 2021 it was not ready for an outbreak of the highly virulent Omicron variant.

“We were already flagging with the NSW government, ‘For goodness’ sake, be very careful here, we don’t think we are prepared sufficiently because there’s not the supply of rapid antigen tests coming from the federal government yet,’ ” Mr Sadler said’.

More than 400 people in NSW aged care facilities died with COVID-19 between December 1 and February 4, the state’s chief health officer Kerry Chant told the inquiry.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said he could not recall the warning from the sector that Mr Sadler had told the inquiry about. Mr Hazzard said there had been “unfortunate outcomes” in aged care, but the federal government was ultimately responsible for the sector.

“I can’t say that’s the case … that’s not something that I remember being at the forefront of the discussion,” Mr Hazzard said when asked about the aged care warning to the government in early December.

He said the government had still been giving strong advice to wear face masks in December, adding that he believed it had taken the right approach to reopening.