Rest home says cluster announcement a shock and more testing needed

Norah Barlow
Norah Barlow
All residents and staff at a Christchurch rest home, which has been deemed a cluster by health officials, should have been tested for Covid-19.

That's the view of Norah Barlow, chief executive of Heritage Lifecare, which owns and operates George Manning Lifecare & Village.

Her call also comes after concerns from the family of a resident who they say should have been tested for Covid-19. When they spoke to the elderly woman on the phone she had a persisting cough, and sniffle. But she assured the family it was just a cold.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Health's website said there were 19 confirmed and probable cases at the home. Ms Barlow said this included four confirmed cases, two residents and two staff and 15 probable cases.

People within this cluster and with confirmed Covid-19 have recovered and were released from isolation today after more than two weeks.

Ms Barlow said there are no new positive cases at the rest home.

Star News is waiting for a response from the Canterbury District Health Board over the reason not all residents and staff have been tested.

And Ms Barlow said it was frustrating she was only told about the cluster at the home 10min before it was announced at the Ministry of Health's daily 1pm briefing on television.

"We got a call at 12.55pm on the day that they were announcing it [the cluster]. We were in shock because we had just sent out a family letter saying there have been no new cases and it made us look like a total liar," she said.

"They named George Manning as the cluster, which caused all kinds of issues. [It] worried people, worried families, worried staff members thinking oh my God, we've got more [cases] but we haven't got any more and we're just reaching the point in time where we've actually been advised by the [Canterbury] DHB that everyone can come out of isolation.

"We know nothing else about anyone testing positive," she said.

George Manning Lifecare & Village in Spreydon. Image: Google Maps
George Manning Lifecare & Village in Spreydon. Image: Google Maps

Ms Barlow said the cluster announcement came as a shock to her, the rest home's staff, residents, and their families. She wants more to be done to educate people on the difference between confirmed and probable cases so they don't confuse the two when clusters are announced.

"I think that New Zealand doesn't really fully understand how these things get reported, and Covid is a hard one because the test isn't fully conclusive either," she said.

New Zealand's Covid-19 death toll has increased to nine, including three residents from Rosewood Rest Home & Hospital in Linwood.

Rosewood residents have accounted for six of these deaths.

Earlier this month, Ms Barlow told Star News she wanted every resident and staff member at George Manning tested for Covid-19, as only those showing symptoms were tested.

The deaths at Rosewood have strengthened her calls for this to happen in spaces where there are Covid-19 cases.

"It does reinforce it. It just says, look, just test people, just test them and at least we have some answers."

Meanwhile, the total number of Covid-19 cases in the Canterbury District Health Board area has risen by five in the last 24 hours, with the region's total now standing at 144.

During Wednesday's update, Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield revealed there have been 20 new cases of Covid-19 nationwide since yesterday made up of six confirmed cases and 14 probable cases.

The CDHB area continues to have the fifth-highest number of cases behind Southern, Waitemata, Auckland and Waikato district health board areas.

The combined total of confirmed and probable cases in New Zealand is 1386.

There are now 728 recoveries, an increase of 100 since yesterday.