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More than 3000 Australians have died with COVID-19 in aged care facilities this year, triple the number of deaths in nursing homes during the first two years of the pandemic.
An analysis of federal health data shows that while COVID-related deaths in aged care began to soar with the arrival of Omicron and the removal of restrictions within the community, they have increased by 36 per cent since the election of the Albanese government in May.
However, as the overall number of COVID-related deaths in aged care has increased, the death rate for people in nursing homes infected with COVID-19 has dropped dramatically – from 33 per cent in 2020 to 3.5 per cent in 2022.