Coronavirus cluster at Frankston’s Golf Links Road Rehabilitation Centre linked to at least 17 cases of COVID-19

Both Christina and Robert Heywood contracted COVID-19 after Christina’s hip replacement rehabilitation.(Supplied: Jeremy Heywood)

When Christina Heywood heard medical staff arguing with a patient down the hall over a positive coronavirus test, she was worried.

The 74-year-old was lying in bed recovering from complications from a hip replacement — major surgery that is tough enough to get over without a deadly virus thrown into the mix.

“He was creating a bit of a fuss so I asked [staff] if I could leave and go home, I was a little bit scared. And they said no, just stay in your room and don’t come out,” she recalls.

“They went into a mad panic and were washing all the walls, they all had all the gear on.”

The ABC understands this is the first time staff realised COVID-19 had got into the Golf Links Road Rehabilitation Centre in Frankston in Melbourne’s south-east.

At least 17 patients have since tested positive, including Ms Heywood.

It’s not known if any of the patients, or their contacts, have died from the virus.

The centre, mainly for elderly people who are recovering from injuries and surgeries, is run by Peninsula Health, which is also battling an outbreak among 51 staff at Frankston Hospital.

Peninsula Health says the cluster at the rehabilitation facility started at the end of July after a patient initially returned two negative test results but later tested positive to coronavirus.

After the commotion down the hall, Ms Heywood was discharged the next morning, but she wasn’t told to isolate.

The next week she developed a headache and felt sick.

She was admitted to Frankston Hospital and tested positive to COVID-19.

She believes there were not effective infection control measures in place at the rehabilitation facility, especially among allied health workers.

“I don’t really remember any really. I don’t think they wore masks or gloves. I don’t remember having my temperature taken,” she said.

She was also encouraged to walk around the centre to exercise, and took part in two group sessions with other patients and physiotherapists.

Her husband, Robert, who had been caring for her after her hip replacement, also later tested positive for COVID-19.

The 77-year-old has had no symptoms.

‘The dizziness was the worst’

Barry and Penny Grove weren’t so lucky.

Ms Grove, 74, got shivers at first, followed by a temperature.

Then the dizziness got so bad she lay on the floor for an hour.

“I then couldn’t get out of bed for a few days. The dizziness was the worst,” she recalls.

She tested positive for coronavirus on July 30, five days after her husband was discharged from the Golf Links Road Rehabilitation Centre following a knee replacement.