Victoria’s death toll is at 162 following 15 deaths on Wednesday, the day with the most fatalities since the pandemic began in Australia.

Six of the deaths announced were men of Greek background.

In total, Neos Kosmos knows of at least 30 Greek Australians of Melbourne who have succumbed to the virus since the pandemic began, with 23 of these deaths from St Basil’s Home for Aged Care cluster at Fawkner.

Spiros (Spiz) Dimitriou, whose father John Dimitriou passed away on Monday after becoming infected at St Basil’s, said that authorities should learn from their tragic mistakes and that the aged care sector should implement radical changes. “What had happened to my father and so many other elderly people should not happen again,” he said.

At the moment, there are almost a hundred St Basil’s residents scattered at different hospitals around Melbourne and many relatives say that it is hard for them to get information about their loved ones.

St Basil’s, in particular, came under fire during a Senate inquiry into the government’s pandemic response on Tuesday.

Federal health officials said they only became aware of the infection spreading through the facility after the state government notified them on 14 July, five days after a staff member reported contracting the disease to the management.

READ MORE: Relative of former St Basil’s resident says compromised care ‘not our experience’

“The board chair became aware on the ninth [July] but didn’t raise it with Commonwealth,” Health Department Secretary Brendan Murphy said.

The Greek Australian multimillionaire Maserati-driving owners of Epping Gardens have also come under fire as the aged care homehas been at the centre of a COVID-19 outbreak.

“Both directors have injected significant capital into Heritage Care in recent years to refurbish the homes and significantly improve standards,” said Heritage Care Chief Executive Greg Reeve in reference to co-owners Tony Antonopoulos and Peter Arvanitis, whose wealth was revealed in The Sunday Age and Sun Herald.

“Yes, in the past there was money to be made from aged care, but at the moment few people want to invest,” Mr Reeve said. “One may well ask why we’re in the game. It’s because we believe the situation will turn around, and Heritage wants to be a boutique, high-quality provider.”

Mr Reeve said a group of staff members who had held a “baby shower” at the facility had been stood down.

READ MORE: St Basil’s aged care residents transferred to hospital, but not all relatives are happy

He said he had been calling from early in the pandemic for ill residents to be moved out to hospital based on clinical need, but that “this was opposed by the Department and the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission as not being the best process”.