Senate debates Questions without Notice

COVID-19: Aged Care


Richard Colbeck

Richard Colbeck Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians

2:04 pm

I'll take the interjection. It was actually evidence given to the royal commission; it wasn't the royal commission saying that. As I said, the fatalities as a proportion of the aged-care beds in Australia amount to about 0.1 per cent—0.17 per cent—of the aged-care beds in this country. In the UK, it's 5.3, which is over 30 times worse than Australia. While every single death in this pandemic is a tragedy, in seven out of eight states we don't have a case in residential aged care. Unfortunately, in Victoria, where we have uncontrolled community spread, the virus has inevitably got into residential aged care. That is what happens. (Time expired)

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