The Australian Department of Health has launched a new COVID-19 support portal on the My Aged Care provider portal as the federal minister for aged care services, Richard Colbeck, increasingly comes under fire for the crisis in the sector.

The department has set up a new helpline through Healthdirect for residential aged care facilities managing COVID-19 outbreaks, staffed 24/7 by registered nurses to provide advice on what do to if residents test positive, limiting transmission and whether residents might be candidates for oral antiviral treatments.