The premier this morning said authorities could have handled the situation better.
“There’s no doubt that horrible mistakes were made and a number of authorities should have done better and then we’ll get to the bottom of that,” Berejiklian told Today.
“Every aged care facility has to assume the virus is going to enter their premises and they need to have a plan to prevent death, keep residents safe, but also keep families safe because just the trauma and distress of not seeing a loved one or not knowing what’s happened to your loved one would be just beyond words.
“There is no doubt this is an example of where things need to happen better, no doubt about that.”
It comes after Newmarch House confirmed a 16th resident had died after testing positive for coronavirus on Tuesday, bringing Australia’s death toll to 97.
The operator of the aged care facility, Anglicare Sydney, did not reveal any details about the resident.
Anglicare Sydney confirmed three more staff members had also tested positive for the virus.
“The positive test results were discovered during our daily, rigorous testing regime which is now being applied to all staff working at Newmarch House prior to the commencement of their shifts,” the company said in a statement.
There have been 66 infections linked to the aged care facility, including 29 staff members and 37 residents, since the outbreak first began on April 13.
A “detective” style investigation into how the deadly cluster at the facility first began is continuing.
