The effect of residential aged care facility COVID-19 lockdowns on resident mortality

Aims This perspective is exploring the effect of residential aged care facility COVID-19 lockdowns on resident mortality. Relevance People living in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) are at increased risk of COVID-19 infection and death. In Australia, COVID-19 infections in RACF residents represented seven percent of recorded infections and the case fatality rate (CFR) was 33%. RACFs were categorised as high-risk settings for COVID-19 and a number of measures to reduce the risk of acquiring COVID-19 were implemented at the National and State and Territory levels, such as strict infection control, monitoring, testing, vaccination and increased clinical capacity Methods All COVID-19 infections and deaths in the 12-months from 15 October 2021 to 14 October 2022 for the cohort of residents living in an Australian RACF (except Western Australia) at the beginning of this period were analysed. Key points Lockdowns of RACFs were successful in substantially reducing the number of COVID-19 infections and deaths in RACF residents. This was largely because the infection and mortality rates of COVID-19 were high in 2020 and 2021. The findings of this study could be used to evaluate and inform national and local states and territories’ guidelines on the management of COVID-19 in RACFs.