Vaccines, hard lockdowns and the ever-present danger of the Covid pandemic.
There’s been no more challenging time for proprietors Ruban and Christina Malarrajan, who have run Rosewood Downs aged care home in Dandenong for 28 years.
Mr Malarrajan said there was palpable relief as the Covid vaccine rolled out among staff and residents.
The residents’ AstraZeneca vaccines were organised through the federal health department. Nurses administered the first jabs on 1 July, with the second booked in for August.
Months ago, many of the 20 staff had already been vaccinated through GPs or vaccine hubs.
For the past 16 months, Rosewood Downs and other aged care homes have been on tenterhooks. Especially in 2020 as Covid killed 655 aged care residents in Victoria.
“As operators we weren’t getting any sleep at night,” Mr Malarrajan said.
“Touch wood, no one here has had Covid yet. And no one has even been suspected to have Covid.”
Mr Malarrajan said there was a concerted effort to “really lock down” Rosewood Downs to keep the pandemic at bay.
As a necessity, residents and staff members’ temperatures were taken daily.
Outings were limited to medical appointments or short walks. Loved ones were unable to visit, so contact was by phone and video calls.
“It was very difficult to keep people inside but they understand that it’s for their own safety. It was a very difficult situation.
“But the protocols are the protocols. Whatever the health department says, we just do it.”
