Queensland
From 5pm AEST, 29 March 2021 all of Queensland will be declared a restricted area in response to COVID-19 detected in Brisbane.
For all residential aged care facilities in Queensland, this includes:
- Visitors
- No personal visitors – including care and support visitors – are allowed to enter.
- Only people providing an essential purpose will be allowed to enter.
- End of life visits will still be allowed.
- Anyone entering a facility must wear a single use surgical face mask (a person does not have to wear a mask if it will create a risk to their health or safety).
- Residents
- May only leave the facility to receive health care, attend a funeral or for an emergency or compassionate reason.
Queensland aged care providers can find out more information and are encouraged to stay up to date via the QLD Health website.
Vaccine rollout
Please note that these restrictions will not affect the rollout of vaccines to impacted facilities and teams will comply with Queensland government public health orders including wearing the required PPE to protect residents and staff while administering vaccines.
Other States and Territories
In response to COVID-19 detected in Brisbane, other States and Territories may have updated restrictions and Directions. Aged care providers are encouraged to stay up to date with advice and Directions from their local government via the links below:
- New South Wales
- Australian Capital Territory
- Victoria
- Tasmania
- South Australia
- Western Australia
- Northern Territory
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 see online 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.