Some PPE suppliers in Australia have been gouging prices during COVID-19, leaving aged care homes grappling with weighty overheads, in their bid to protect staff and residents.
Equipment has now more than doubled in price, scaling as high as $22 per box of 50 masks and $175 per box of 100 gowns, from some suppliers.
To be effective, many disposable PPE masks can be worn for no more than one hour before being discarded. For an dozens of workers on shift at any given time in some homesaged care staff member working 38 hours per week, this translates to unsustainable levels of spend.estimated weekly PPE spend of $87.55 per worker.
60 resident-facing staff could add $6,000 or more per week for PPE.
