Protecting Older Australians: COVID-19 Update 17 August 2021

Published 19th August 2021

VIC RACFs aged care workers - exemption from authorised worker permit scheme

The Victorian Premier recently announced that from 11:59pm Tuesday 17 August across metropolitan Melbourne, permits will be required for people to travel and attend workplaces to perform authorised work, unless an exemption applies.

Please note that aged care workers directly employed by residential aged care facilities (RACFs) are exempt, and are not required to obtain a permit.

Workers who are not required to have a permit, must carry identification from their place of work which includes:

• their name and place of work
• photo identification.

If a person’s workplace identification does not include a photo, another form of photo identification must be carried.

Workers who are not exempt from the permit requirements, or cannot satisfy the identification of workplace and personal photo requirements above, should obtain a permit from their employer and carry it when attending their place of work.

For further information, please refer to the Premier's statement and the authorised worker permit resources page.

The situation is being reviewed regularly by the Department of Health, and RACFs will be notified if any changes are made.

QLD residential aged care update

All aged care workers are encouraged to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as a priority, further information about vaccination can be found on the Queensland Government website.

The Residential Aged Care Direction (No. 5) was updated on 17 August 2021 by Queensland Health to clarify directions around:

Aged care worker mandatory vaccinations:

• All residential aged care facility workers must have had a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by 16 September 2021 and the second dose by 31 October 2021 (or have evidence of a booking to receive the second dose).
• Residential aged care facility workers who are unable to be vaccinated, because they have a medical contraindication or because of a vaccine shortage, should be deployed to an alternative work location, wherever reasonably practicable.
• Residential aged care facility operators can only allow unvaccinated workers to continue to work at a facility in very limited situations.
• Residential aged care facility workers who have not been vaccinated can still enter a facility as a personal visitor or as a support person for a prospective resident, if they follow visitor requirements.

Residential aged care facilities in restricted Local Government Areas (LGA's):

• Visitors
• Visitors are allowed in impacted areas. Individual facilities may have increased rules in place.
• Residents
• Are allowed to leave the facility for any reason.
• Students
• Students can only enter a residential aged care facility located in an impacted area for a placement connected to their enrolled course of study if they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Aged care providers can find more information about the updated direction and full advice on current restrictions for aged care on the Queensland Government website.

NT - CHO Updated direction

As there are a number of Northern Territory regions in Lockdown it is time for activation of Outbreak Management Plans (OMP) and implementation of your continuity of service plans.

The most important step in keeping our clients safe is ensuring the safety of our staff through awareness, appropriate resources, policy and practices, knowledge and skills.

Some key considerations are in relation to:

• Situational awareness including knowledge of the most up to date CHO Directions (no.41) for aged care facilities.
• COVID Screening for all staff and clients before providing services – be aware of the actions required if staff or clients have been in a exposure site - stay-safe/case-location-alerts-and-public-exposure-sites including definitions of close and casual contacts.
• Service providers in lockdown areas to only provide essential and critical services during this time with the aim to reduce the number of physical contacts, reducing the time spent in a client’s home and the number of locations where services are delivered.
• All centre based services and social group services in a lock down area must ceased.  Supervision type services for people in the care of essential workers may continue as a last resort.  A transition to in home support in these situations is preferred.
• Implement Welfare checks – review options for telehealth or virtual service delivery.
• Conduct PPE- audits – order supplies early.
• Provide staff with refresher training for Donning and Doffing PPE and Infection Prevention Control.

If you have symptoms regardless of where you are living, you are urged to get tested and stay isolated until you receive a negative result.

This information can change rapidly so please check the NT Health website regularly for updates.

A 24-hour hotline has been established by NT Health to provide information about the lockdown arrangements call 1800 193 111.

ACT lockdown extension

The ACT CHO has announced an extension to the lockdown until 2 September 2021. Restrictions for aged care will continue for that period:

• Updated advice for high-risk settings:
• During this time, all visitors must be excluded from RACFs unless attending for the following reasons:
• Compassionate reasons
• End of life reasons
• For the purposes of performing essential work on or at the premises, that cannot be performed from the person’s residence
• Workers undertaking work that is not essential work are not permitted to enter or remain at the premises.
• RACFs should continue to require all staff and visitors to complete entry screening questions.
• Please update the screening tool for your facility.

• Update to outings advice for all high-risk settings:
• Residents from high-risk settings should only leave the premises for essential reasons, similar to the ACT community.
• Facilities must ensure that residents are provided with a mask (if appropriate) and advice about hand hygiene, physical distancing and advice on using the Check In CBR app if they need to leave the facility for essential purposes.
• Face masks must be carried at all times and worn by everyone aged over 12 years outside the home.
• Read the latest ACT COVID-19 updates for additional information for home-based care providers, during the period of the ACT lockdown, essential health care services must take reasonable steps to provide services via telehealth or other virtual care options where possible and clinically appropriate to do so.

The COVID-19 situation can change rapidly and as such, advice for high-risk settings is subject to change regularly. ACT Health will continue to keep you updated through these Chief Health Officer alerts.

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