Advice for residential aged care providers and home care providers in New South Wales has been updated. Until at least 11.59pm on Wednesday 30 December 2020:
- All residential aged care facilities in the Northern Beaches LGA must exclude visitors, except those performing essential caring functions.
- Up to two visitors per day are permitted to visit residents in residential aged care facilities in Greater Sydney (including Central Coast and Wollongong LGAs). Visitors from the Northern Beaches LGA are excluded.
- Up to two visitors per day from Greater Sydney excluding Northern Beaches LGA are permitted to visit residents in residential aged care facilities in regional NSW. There are no restrictions on people from regional NSW visiting residents in regional facilities.
Further details including guidance on essential care purposes and exceptional circumstances is available on the NSW Health website. Guidance is also available on individual and group outings for residents.
Until further notice, all staff and visitors must wear a surgical mask whilst in a NSW residential aged care facility. All staff and visitors should also continue to practice physical distancing, by staying at least 1.5 meters from others and practice good respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene. Everyone working in aged care should stay at home if they are feeling unwell and get tested for COVID-19 if they have any symptoms, no matter how mild.
NSW public orders and advice from the Chief Health Officer must be followed. This means that the current NSW Health advice supersedes national guidance in the Industry Code for Visiting Residential Aged Care Homes during COVID-19 and the COVID-19 Escalation Tiers and Aged Care Provider Responses.
Aged care providers are reminded they need to urgently contact both their local PHU and the Commonwealth Department of Health at agedcareCOVIDcases@health.gov.au in response to a confirmed case of COVID-19 in a resident or staff member. A Commonwealth case manager will be assigned to you and a range of supports will be made available to help you manage the outbreak. The PHU will also advise and assist you with testing arrangements.
Further information and advice
If you need additional public health advice contact your local NSW Health PHU on 1300 066 055.
Please visit the Australian Government Department of Health website for information and resources to assist in preparing and managing a COVID-19 outbreak.