With local transmission of COVID-19 detected in NSW, for residential aged care facilities within the Greater Sydney area, including metropolitan Sydney, Nepean Blue Mountains and Central Coast:
- all staff and visitors must wear a surgical mask
- residents may have a maximum of two visitors each day and they can be different visitors each day
- visits should take place outdoors where possible.
Visitors and staff must not enter the facility at all if they:
- have been to any close or casual contact locations in NSW or Interstate places of high concern
- have COVID-19 symptoms - fever (37.5°C or higher) or symptoms of COVID‑19
- are a close contact of a person with confirmed COVID-19 and are within their self-isolation period
- live in a household with a person who is currently self-isolating
- are waiting for a COVID-19 test result
- (from 1 June to 30 September 2021) have not received a dose of the 2021 influenza vaccine.
NSW aged care providers can find out more information and are encouraged to stay up to date via the NSW Health website.
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 as and when needed. 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. The Commonwealth is prioritising requests for PPE from the National Medical Stockpile to aged care services that are most in need.
Further information and advice
Please visit the Australian Government Department of Health website 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.