Daughter of Rosewood Rest Home resident praises staff dealing with Covid-19 outbreak

A woman whose father is a resident at Christchurch’s Rosewood Rest Home has praised staff there dealing with the Covid-19 outbreak that has led to three deaths.

Mandi Lawrence told 1 NEWS about the hard work going on at Rosewood, both before, and in the aftermath of the cluster of cases.

“It doesn't matter how it got in, all I know is how hard Rosewood worked to prevent that from happening and for this to actually happen to them it’s heart wrenching,” she said.

However, she knows some are doing it tougher than her family right now.

“My heart is going out to all of them now, having dad in the rest home is stressful enough but I cannot imagine what they're going through right now,” she said of people who have lost loved ones to Covid-19.

There are now 33 Covid-19 cases associated with the Rosewood Rest Home, with both residents and staff infected.

Of those, 17 are confirmed cases and 16 are probable cases.

All three people who have died from the Rosewood Rest Home - the woman in her 90s, the man in his 70s and now the man in his 80s - had confirmed cases of Covid-19.

"We know that because of the underlying vulnerabilities of new members of this group, we need to be prepared for further serious illness and possible deaths," Dr Ashley Bloomfield said today.

There are now a total of 1349 Covid-19 cases in New Zealand.