When COVID-19 swept through Victoria’s aged care system in late 2020, staff encountered an unexpected problem: many of their infected patients became delirious.

Deeply confused and distressed, they would wander the halls and wards, often shouting and screaming.

“You’re having these horrible nightmare-like hallucinations, that people are going to kill you. Or that you’re already dead,” says Associate Professor Peter Lange, director of geriatrics at Werribee Mercy Hospital, and an expert in delirium.

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