Exclusive: Aged care homes have been busted breaking COVID-19 rules months after the pandemic killed hundreds of elderly residents.
Government inspectors uncovered ongoing COVID-19 breaches in 15 nursing homes - nine in NSW, four in Victoria and two in Queensland - despite the deaths of 685 Australians in aged care last year.
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) cut short the accreditation of Newmarch House in Kingswood until May 14 this year, after it failed an unannounced audit in July.
"Deficits were found in staff infection control practices and cleaning of equipment including during the COVID-19 outbreak,'' the audit report states.