Govt, aged care providers prepare for virus
WHILE new stories are shared every minute around the world on the latest movement of the coronavirus, one thing that remains clear is it has its greatest impact on the very young, the very old and those with low immunity.
For those involved in the aged care environment, the virus presents an extra threat to centre residents. Leaders from aged care providers and industry bodies met with Federal Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians Richard Colbeck and Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy on March 9 to discuss contingency plans for dealing with a potential outbreak of coronavirus in the aged care environment.
Senator Colbeck said the Aged Care Covid-19 Preparedness Forum was convened to address priority issues to ensure appropriate planning was in place to tackle the virus across the aged care sector.
For aged care providers it was agreed they would maintain their existing facility infection control protocols, develop and activate their Covid-19 Emergency Response Plan, finalise arrangements for residents, staff and volunteers to have seasonal flu vaccinations and regularly communicate with aged care consumers and their families.
The government committed to ensure the availability of personal protective equipment for aged care services, to consider increased delivery of infection control and procedures training, to develop a communications package directed at aged care workers with practical advice on how to feel protected and prepared, and to look at strategies to maintain and retain the workforce and develop options for an aged care surge workforce capacity.
Aged care providers have been working with state and federal health bodies since news of the virus broke and many have already been in touch with residents and their families offering suggestions on how they can help.
Japara Aged Care Services chief operations officer Lindon Le Griffon sent residents and family members a letter on March 6 outlining the steps Japara is taking to minimise the risk. The plan includes “enhanced infection control cleaning protocols in all homes”, a new coronavirus containment procedure, updated quarantine guidelines, updated outbreak kits for each home, additional infection control training for staff, and “reviewing and securing supply chains to ensure we can access essential goods and equipment”.
The Federal Government is constantly updating information on the virus at its website health.gov.au.