Strict visitation at aged care facilities

Strict visitation policies have been introduced at local aged care facilities including Cooinda Lodge in Warragul, Andrews House at Trafalgar, Lyrebird Village in Drouin, Abbey Gardens in Warragul and Amberlea in Drouin.

As of Friday, each reported no cases of the virus at its communities.

West Gippsland Healthcare Group said it had limited visitors to Cooinda Lodge at Warragul and Andrews House at Trafalgar.

WGHG has not introduced visitor limits to patients at West Gippsland Hospital.

However, it said Cooinda Lodge and Andrews House residents may have no more than two visitors, including doctors, at a time.

Visits by children 16 years and under are not permitted, except in special circumstances.

Lyrebird Villages CEO Bill Baker said facilities were in lock-down as of last Tuesday, March 17, with limited access to residents from family and visitors.

“We are asking family and friends to restrict their visitors unless absolutely necessary and to follow all precautions,” he said. “There are no cases to date of Covid-19 as yet, and we would like to keep it that way.”

Baptcare announced visitor restrictions across Abbey Gardens and Amberlea from Friday. This will be reviewed on April 2.

“We strongly discourage external outings during this 14-day period, apart from medical appointments which are not able to be completed using tele-health,” said a statement. “We will put in place a range of non-physical contact options at every Baptcare residential aged care community over the coming days.”