Protecting Older Australians - COVID-19 Update 10 June 2021

Published 17th June 2021

Reminder: Single site arrangements for COVID-19 impacted areas of Greater Melbourne remain in place until 24 June 2021

To continue to minimise the potential risk of workers unintentionally transmitting COVID-19 by working across multiple sites, aged care workers in residential aged care facilities in the Greater Melbourne area are reminded to limit their work to one site until 24 June 2021.

Australian Government Grant funding remains available to support providers with out of pocket costs associated with implementing single site arrangements in Greater Melbourne for the four week period from 27 May 2021 to 24 June 2021. The Support for Aged Care Workers in COVID-19 (SACWIC) grant opportunity remains open until 31 December 2021 for providers wishing to make a claim for the current period.

These arrangements may be further extended on the advice of the Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer and in line with the de-escalation criteria set out in the National COVID-19 Aged Care Plan, including an assessment of the risk to vulnerable populations such as those in aged care.

In addition to funding support, providers can also access guidance on practical implementation of single site arrangements, including employee relations expertise, through the Guiding Principles Support Hub website or hotline on 1800 491 793.

Updated advice for NSW aged care providers

The screening advice for Residential Aged Care Providers and Home Care Providers has been updated on 9 June 2021.

Key update states that staff and visitors must not enter a RACF and be excluded from work from home care service providers if in the last 14 days they have been in:

• close or casual contact locations in NSW
• close or casual contact locations in Queensland
• Victorian places of high concern (these are the close and casual contact venues; visit the Victorian Government Case alerts- public exposure sites to navigate through the dates and venues)
• Greater Melbourne.

This information can change rapidly so please check the NSW Health at least daily for updates.

QLD Health - Updated advice

The list of exposure sites has been updated since yesterday. Affected sites to date are located on the Sunshine Coast, Goondiwindi, and Toowoomba.

Sunshine Coast has extended testing site hours at the Caloundra Specialist Ambulatory Care drive -through clinic from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday. This is not the only option for testing – for a full list of testing clinics please visit the website.

Anyone who has been to an exposure site cannot visit a hospital, aged care facility or disability accommodation – even if they return a negative result – for 14 days since they attended the exposure site.

Reminder for Queenslanders:

• Please consult the contact tracing website regularly for the latest list of exposure sites.
• If you have also been to New South Wales since 1 June please regularly check their website or Facebook page for any exposure sites (note: contact tracing is still underway).
• If you have been to any of the exposure sites, regardless of whether you have any symptoms, you must get tested immediately and remain at home until you return a negative result. Additional testing facilities will be available on the Sunshine Coast.

Anyone in Queensland who has any symptoms – however mild – is asked to get tested and remain at home until they receive a negative result.

Further information and advice

Please visit the our website for information and resources to assist in preparing and managing a COVID-19 outbreak, including what to do in the first 24 hours of an outbreak in a residential aged care facility

Source:
Unknown Author, 2021, Department of Health (https://www.health.gov.au/)