The Hetti Perkins Home for the Aged in Alice Springs is a 60-bed facility that provides residential care for Central Australia's Aboriginal Elders, particularly those with disabilities and chronic health problems.
The facility has been placed into lockdown after a resident in her 80's became the Northern Territory's latest COVID-19 related death.
The Northern Territory Health Department has confirmed 72 people at the Hetti Perkins facility have tested positive to COVID-19, "including 45 residents and 27 staff members".
The Federal Department of Health who is responsible for the aged sector said in a statement, 22 of the residents who tested positive have recovered but one remains in hospital.
The remaining COVID positive residents "are being cared for in the home, if residents deteriorate and require acute care, they will be transported to hospital."
The Commonwealth also confirmed 20 COVID positive members of staff have recovered however Australian Defence Force "clinical and general duties staff are supporting the facility."
This latest death is the second from an Alice Springs aged care facility - an unvaccinated man in his 80's from the Old Timers facility died from the virus earlier this month.
ADF personnel have been called to assist in managing the aged care outbreak, believed to be one of the Territory's worst. Source: Supplied
Northern Territory Health said,
"91 per cent of residents at Hetti Perkins Home for the Aged have received at least two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, and 96 per cent have had one dose - All staff have had at least two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine."
Both Hetti Perkins and the Old Timers facilities are run by the same provider, Australian Regional and Remote Community Services.
At the time of publication, the organisation was yet to respond to questions from NITV about the outbreak.
This latest death bring the number of COVID related deaths in the Northern Territory to 21.
Ninety-eight COVID-19 patients remain in NT hospitals and seven patients are in intensive care.
There were 409 cases recorded in the Top End region, 93 in Central Australia, 24 in East Arnhem, 29 in the Big Rivers region, and 35 in the Barkly region.
The number of active cases in the NT is around 4,835.
