Fighting infection and isolation: the small household model

In September 2020, Melinda Gates stated in an article in The Guardian that: ‘This pandemic has magnified every existing inequality in our society.’¹

This inequality was already starkly obvious to those in the aged care sector. Already vulnerable - and at risk of isolation, loneliness, and abuse - older people living in care homes were amongst the most susceptible to infection, accounting for up to 84 per cent of all COVID-19 deaths globally.

And they were at additional risk not just because of their old age, co-morbidities, and frailty, but because of their increased likelihood of presenting with atypical symptoms. Those with dementia were less able to communicate their symptoms – sometimes leading to late diagnoses.^{3, 4}