A woman whose parents died after contracting COVID-19 at St Basil’s Home for the Aged in Fawkner is the latest to come forward.

Branka Lyons told a coronial inquest on Wednesday her father became a “breathing skeleton” after he wasn’t fed, while her mother was “dosed on antipsychotics”. 

Lyons teared up as she recalled the scene at the home while it dealt with an outbreak in July 2020. 

“I’ve got my mum and dad beside me, I’m doing this for them,” she said.

Lyons says her father Jakov Pucar, 90, could only eat pureed or minced foods and became a “breathing skeleton” before being hospitalised. 

He was diagnosed with COVID-19 a day later. 

“I don’t think my dad had anything to eat the whole time they were there … he was a skeleton.”

Lyons said her dad was given morphine against her wishes, which she said may have hastened his decline.

She says her mother, 82, “cried her heart out, she was heartbroken”. 

Replacement aged care worker Robert McDougall told the inquiry he couldn’t believe what he saw at the home. 

“I’ve spoken to the department of health to please shut this place down,” said Mr McDougall. It is unclear whether he is referring to the Victorian or commonwealth health department. 

Ms Lyons recounted how she heard replacement staff barge into her mother’s room at the Fawkner facility while she was speaking with her, with the phone left off the hook as the worker repeatedly and aggressively asked her mother their name.

“They spoke to her harshly and abruptly, it broke my heart,” she said.

Ms Lyons said she asked for mother to be taken to the Northern Hospital with her father.

She said her mother was instead taken to Wantirna Health, about a 50-minute drive from the Northern, where she was given a “cocktail of drugs” and “dosed on antipsychotics and antibiotics”.

“My main concern was the antipsychotics because my mother was not psychotic, she needed comfort and care and someone to talk to her gently and reassure her,” said Ms Lyons.

“She didn’t get that.”

Ms Lyons said she didn’t receive a phone call from Wantirna Health before her mother’s death, robbing her of the opportunity to be by her side when she passed.

“Our elderly deserve better than this,” she said.

An independent review of major Covid outbreaks in aged care facilities found that testing and contact tracing delays “often impeded effective responses to and control of Covid-19 outbreaks”, something which has improved with the establishment of the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre.

Source: The Australian

Peter Poulos delivered his inaugural speech as a member of the NSW Legislative Council on Tuesday. 

The event occurred virtually due to current COVID-19 restrictions in the state, however, a small number of attendees were present.

This included, but is not limited to, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet, NSW Shadow Minister for Small Business, Property and Multiculturalism, Steve Kamper, Bishop Bartholomew of Charioupolis, Peter’s wife, Vicki Poulos, and their three children.

Poulos is the first Greek-Australian Liberal in the NSW Legislative Council since the late Hon (Jim) James Samios in 2003.

In his speech, the long-time Liberal Party member touched on an Indigenous voice to Parliament, his faith, small business, pushback against COVID-19 vaccination, land clearing, and housing.

He began by calling for an Indigenous voice to Parliament, while recognising the “English traditions and influences within our institutions which permeate across this state and beyond.”

He referenced Archbishop Damaskinos of Athens and Archbishop Iakovos of America as his inspirations for their “preserved humanity in the face of great upheaval.”

“The rule of law, the separation of Church and State, our language, our independent judiciary, our freedom of religion, our parliamentary democracy, our freedom of association and expression, our right to lawfully own a firearm and… the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise…”

“I will commit myself to defend these very ideals. I am dutifully bound to do so,” he said.

He says the government has a “non-negotiable” duty to small businesses like the one he grew up seeing his parents run in south Sydney.

“I grew up in a small business family and observed the long hours over seven days and the constant pressures attached to it. I remain and will always be a strong supporter of small business…” 

He also voiced his support of those unvaccinated against COVID-19, while calling the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccination an “unnecessarily polarising issue”. 

“I am unequivocal in supporting vaccinations and the advice of our medical experts,” he said.

“However, there remains to this day a number of our citizens who choose not to be vaccinated. This is their choice, and I respect their right to do so.” 

He called for more sustainable rates of land clearing, while insisting the state needs to incentivise industries to do so. 

“We ought to be guided by sound scientific and sustainability principles,” he said.

“We are obligated to do so both to current and future generations. And we owe it to nature.” 

He went on to propose tax reform to make housing more affordable for young people, while supporting stamp duty concessions for seniors who decide to downsize. 

He wrapped up by thanking his parents John and Maria, Greek migrants from Achaia and Laconia, respectively, and his late grandparents Emmanuel and Diamanta Livanos. 

“[My parents] migrated to New South Wales over 65 years ago. Each of you experienced great hardship and poverty. You survived the war and a famine to somehow venture to a great southern land … so that your son could stand here today as a proud Greek Australian…”

He also thanked his extended family, including his wife Vicki and their three children, who were in attendance.