Carrington are aware of the publication of a social media post that appeared online from the Macarthur Chronicle, which identified our Werombi Court facility as having an active outbreak of COVID-19.

Below, you will find outlined a timeline of events regarding a situation that did occur at our Werombi Court facility.

  • On Tuesday 10th August 2021, we were notified by a staff member in our Werombi Court facility that a family member of their household had tested positive to COVID-19, acquired from their workplace in a hospital in South West Sydney.
  • Our staff member immediately removed themselves from the facility and went to get tested, initially returning a negative result.
  • Early on Friday morning on the 13th August 2021, we were notified by our staff member that they had retested on Thursday 12th August 2021 and as a result of being a close contact of their family member, had returned a positive result. It should be noted that this staff member was fully vaccinated against COVID-19, as were the vast majority of residents in our Werombi Court facility.
  • Werombi Court was immediately placed into a strict lockdown, with all residents isolated in their rooms. Staff and residents were immediately tested for COVID-19, and by Friday evening all had returned a negative result.
  • Staff who were identified as close contacts of the staff member who initially tested positive were immediately stood down, and have been isolating for 14 days at home. These staff members were required to have multiple COVID-19 tests while in isolation, in accordance with Public Health unit guidelines. To date, all test results from these staff have returned negative results.
  • To date, all test results from Werombi Court residents (tests conducted on the 13th August and the 18th August) have returned negative results. The staff member who tested positive does not work in any other facility across the Carrington campus.
  • Throughout this period, staff have been wearing full PPE when performing daily care for our residents in Werombi Court. Staff movement around the facility has also been restricted as an extra layer of precaution.
  • We have been in regular communication with our Werombi Court families throughout this period, to keep them updated on the situation. Should a similar situation occur in another facility on our campus, those families will be contacted and kept abreast of developments as they occur.
  • We have also been conducting regular welfare checks for our staff who are undergoing their 14 days of isolation.
  • Werombi Court’s period of isolation ended yesterday on the 24th August 2021. We are currently awaiting a final round of test results from our residents, and we will be meeting with NSW Health and the Department of Health today to get final clearance for the facility.
  • Throughout this period we have been working closely with the South Western Sydney Public Health Unit and have been guided by Public Health protocols.

Our Werombi Court families have been very supportive of the measures taken to keep their loved ones safe, and we are pleased that none of our residents or other staff tested positive for COVID-19 during this period.

This was also acknowledged by NSW Health and the Public Health Unit, who were also very pleased with how our team had handled the situation.

Carrington is proud of the high rate of vaccination in both staff and residents, which averages above 90% across the site in both categories. As an organisation, we are committed to keeping our residents and staff safe and healthy and will continue to do so.

This response can be attributed to Raad Richards, the Chief Executive of Carrington.