Protecting Older Australians: COVID-19 update 24 July 2020

Published 28th July 2020

Victorian mobile testing clinics fact sheet

An information sheet on the mobile testing clinics in residential aged care facilities in metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire has been published. This resource offers further information on the mobile testing service and why these measures are so crucial in identifying asymptomatic positive cases before they have the chance to spread. We encourage all providers to participate in this testing. Aspen Medical will be in contact with you to schedule a time for the mobile testing clinics to come to you.

Workforce retention bonus payment

The workforce retention payments grant round will close on 31 July 2020. Don’t leave your application until the last minute as due to the volume of claims submitted, payments are now moving into August with the second payment scheduled for late September.

The Department has fielded worker enquiries asking when they will receive the bonus, so please ensure you keep communication open with eligible workers.

To ensure that applications can be processed promptly providers are reminded to include their provider ID and service ID on the Staffing Profile Spreadsheet supplied on the GrantConnect website.

All information regarding this grant opportunity can be found on the GrantConnect website. In addition we have Retention Bonus FAQs to assist providers and their employees.

Provider enquiries on the application may be submitted in writing to: .

Reminder of State and Territory resource support during COVID-19

Each state and territory has a suite of resources available for aged care providers to assist in managing COVID-19. These resources are being updated regularly and it is important that you stay up to date with both these resources and the directions in your jurisdiction.

A reminder too that the ‘First 24 hours - Managing COVID-19 in a residential aged care facility’ is a recently published Department of Health resource that can be found here.

Reminder: Communications survey closes today

A survey to determine how you would like to receive ongoing communications from the Department of Health closes tomorrow. Your feedback is valued and will help us ensure you continue to get timely and relevant information.

The survey can be completed by anyone with an interest in the aged care. All participants are welcome to forward the survey link to others who may be interested in participating.

All questions are voluntary and the survey will take approximately 5 minutes to complete. The survey is anonymous and will not collect personal information.

Source:
Unknown Author, 2020, Department of Health