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Daniel Andrews says he has no confidence in Victoria's private aged care Covid-19 response

<span>Photograph: Daniel Pockett/EPA</span>
Photograph: Daniel Pockett/EPA

All non-urgent elective surgery in Victoria will be halted and specialist health staff from those clinics will take over care in aged care facilities as Daniel Andrews said he did not have confidence that existing aged care staff could keep residents safe amid outbreaks of Covid-19.

On Tuesday the premier said 384 new cases of Covid-19 had been identified in the state overnight and that six more people had died, four of those linked to aged care, taking the state’s death toll to 83.

Earlier on Tuesday Scott Morrison said just under one-fifth of Victoria’s 430 aged care facilities had been affected by the virus.

Aged care homes map

Andrews said in facilities where the state government had “no confidence in infection control, where there is no confidence that care can be provided to a suitable standard, then we will do everything we can to move those residents out” and into hospitals.

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“I cannot stand here and tell you that I have confidence that staff and management across a number of private sector aged care facilities are able to provide the care that is appropriate to keep their residents safe,” Andrews said.

“If I could say that, I would. We don’t run this sector, but the residents in these homes are all Victorians. The commonwealth government have asked for help and that is exactly what my government and our agencies will provide to them.”

All elective surgery has been cancelled aside from urgent category 1 patients, and the Eastern Health eye and ear hospital would close all beds, Andrews said.

“They will then move staff, principally Victorian government-employed registered nurses, into a number of aged care settings where there are outbreaks to provide care and support to essentially take over the clinical care of residents in those settings,” Andrews said.

“Some of the stories we’ve heard, some of what’s gone on in some of these settings is simply not acceptable and it’s not about blame, it’s not about demarcations and having disputes about who is in charge of what. It’s just about getting on and getting this done.”

Morrison said the Victorian aged care situation was complex especially because the virus was now in the aged care workforce, causing stuff to isolate or be furloughed while awaiting test results.

“The standing-down, necessarily, of many in that workforce has had a very significant disruption to the provision of care in those facilities,” the prime minister said.

“The commonwealth has been working, including with other states, to ensure that we can plug those gaps wherever we possibly can. But I want to be upfront with you: it’s very difficult and it’s very hard to get people into those positions, particularly given the complexity and difficulty of the situations they’re facing.”

On Monday night, Australian defence force medics were among those asked to cover a night shift in one Melbourne facility.

“And so there is no effort being spared to ensure that we can get the people to the places they need to be,” Morrison said. But he acknowledged the disruption to the workforce had led to “significant problems ensuring a continuity of communication with families”.

Related: Victoria's aged care system on verge of collapse amid Covid-19 surge, doctors warn

“And I know that must be terribly heartbreaking for those families, and incredibly difficult,” he said. “There is disruption and we would ask for patience. But I understand that patience is very hard to come by when you’re talking about a loved one who’s been affected by Covid.”

There are now 764 active cases across private residential aged care facilities in Victoria. More than 100 residents have been moved to hospitals across Melbourne, with plans in place for at least another 50 residents to be transferred over coming days.

However, healthcare workers in hospitals have also been infected and stood down due to the virus, with about 400 active cases in health workers.

The state government said more than 1,200 spaces for intensive care and critical care beds had been created. Should the demand for beds increase, plans are in place to convert 1,000 more critical care spaces to treat virus cases within hospitals. This includes upgrading operating theatres, recovery and other ward areas and emergency department spaces.

Related: Aged care workers awarded pandemic leave in Fair Work Commission ruling

The Victorian branch of the Australian Medical Association has called for a royal commission into the handling of the virus in Victoria, including in aged and healthcare.

“They are entitled to their views but I’m not focused on those matters,” Andrews said.

The federal health minister, Greg Hunt, said on Tuesday Australian Medical Assistance Teams would be sent into Victoria to assist in aged care, and 5m masks from the national medical stockpile would be made immediately available to the sector, as well as 500,000 face shields.

Hunt said aged care residents represented about 70% of the cases diagnosed in Victoria since 1 July.

Meanwhile in New South Wales, 14 new cases of coronavirus were identified overnight including six new cases linked to the funeral cluster and four linked to the cluster at the Thai Rock restaurant at Wetherill Park, taking the restaurant cluster to 75 cases.

There was also a new case associated with the Thai Rock restaurant in Potts Point, bringing that cluster to three, and a new case in a staff member of the Apollo restaurant in Potts Point.

NSW Health is also contacting passengers on flight JQ506 from Melbourne to Sydney on 25 July, after a woman in her 30s who was on the flight tested positive. Passengers who were seated in rows 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 are being treated as close contacts and placed into self-isolation.