New Zealand's aged care facilities were hit hardest by the nationwide Covid-19 outbreak, and an independent review commissioned by the Director-General of Health found all were first infected by outside sources.
Of the five facilities that became clusters, three had staff cases first while the other two were linked to visitors.
Delayed recognition of the outbreak meant the virus spread faster within facilities, the report says.
None of the facilities were prepared for the impact of a positive case, "let alone an outbreak/cluster".
The report also says one facility which became a cluster regretted not "jumping the gun" and going into lockdown earlier than officially recommended.
"The ARC providers and their staff felt significantly more secure in lockdown and most wished they had locked down sooner than they did."
The outbreak also took a major psychological toll on staff who worked at the facilities.
Some were threatened with evictions from their homes when it became known they worked for one of the aged care facilities, the report found.
"Some staff reported they were 'treated like lepers in our society' and the facilities were also the subject of online attacks," the report says.
"One person posted on an [aged residential care] facility’s social media page that the ARC facility should be 'burnt to the ground'."
Twenty-two people died of Covid-19 in New Zealand, largely linked to rest home clusters.
The independent report was commissioned by Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield in April, and released today.
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