Tasmanian aged care providers should remain alert and prepared for a potential outbreak of COVID-19.
As a RACF provider you:
- hold primary responsibility for planning, preparedness, prevention and response to COVID-19 outbreak within your facility
- should develop, maintain and test a robust and current Outbreak Management Plan to ensure preparedness in the event of an outbreak
- lead and manage implementation of the Outbreak Management Plan in response to an outbreak
- support the safety, care and wellbeing of residents and staff as required by legislation
- should regularly communicate with residents and their representatives.
In the event of an outbreak, the Commonwealth will appoint a case manager who is the Commonwealth’s single point of contact for the residential aged care facility.
The case manager will identify and address the needs of the RACF and if required, enable access Commonwealth supports such as:
- PPE – where the service’s existing supply channels are not available
- facilitate COVID-19 testing as directed by the PHU
- Aged Care Workforce Support: where the RACF is unable to fill critical roster gaps.
The department encourages you to be familiar with the measures you should have in place to prevent and prepare for an outbreak and how to identify and manage an outbreak in residential aged care.
See the Advice for the aged care sector during COVID-19 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.
Following the identification of a COVID-19 positive case in your facility, immediately advise the Tasmanian Government Public Health Unit 1800 671 738 and the Commonwealth Department of Health agedcareCOVIDcases@health.gov.au.
* Under the Privacy Act 1988, information provided to the Australian Government Department of Health should be de-identified and should not include personal or private information that can identify a resident or staff member, such as an individual’s name, address, date of birth or contact details. It should also not include information about a resident’s movements or passing.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Aged care providers are asked to ensure they have a sufficient supply of PPE, to use their own supply of PPE first and to request extra supply for emergency purposes as and when needed.
The Commonwealth is prioritising requests for PPE from the National Medical Stockpile to aged care services that are most in need. The deployment of PPE is only where commercial supply is unavailable, and where there is a government direction regarding COVID-19 PPE requirements or demonstrated clinical need.
If you urgently need PPE and cannot source it, please submit an online application. The application will need to be completed for your request to be considered.