Coronavirus crisis: Two from same nursing home dead as virus spreads

A NSW man in his 80s has died after contracting coronavirus in his Sydney aged care home, taking the nationwide death toll to three.

The 82-year-old was on Wednesday confirmed to have COVID-19 after he picked up the virus from an infected aged care worker in her 50s at BaptistCare’s Dorothy Henderson Lodge in Macquarie Park.

He died overnight in hospital, chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said.

The man’s death follows that of a 95-year-old woman and fellow Dorothy Henderson Lodge resident and a 78-year-old man in Perth.

More than 70 Australians have tested positive to the coronavirus, with figures expected to continue climbing across the country.

An extra 260,000 masks will be immediately released from the federal stockpile to primary health networks, deputy chief medical officer Paul Kelly said.

“We realised that personal protective equipment for our healthcare workforce and our aged care workforce is absolutely fundamental. We need to make sure that they are kept safe,” Professor Kelly said on Saturday.

NSW Health confirmed two new coronavirus cases overnight – a Ryde Hospital health care worker in her 30s and a woman in her 50s.

The health care worker had been in contact with an infected person from the Macquarie Park aged care facility, while the means by which the woman in her 50s caught coronavirus remains undisclosed.

New cases were on Saturday also announced in Victoria and Tasmania.

The latest Victorian case was a doctor who treated 70 patients at The Toorak Clinic in Melbourne’s southeast during the week. The doctor and his patients, along with staff, are now required to self-isolate.

Two patients he visited in a Malvern nursing home are also in isolation.

Meanwhile, four more Australians have been caught up in another cruise ship coronavirus emergency off the coast of California.

The government is reportedly finalising a $5 billion stimulus package amid the outbreak including reducing deeming rates for pensioners, providing local councils with funding and expanding business instant asset write-offs.