Updated COVID-19 Directions 2020 – Residential Aged Care Facilities 4 November, South Australia

Updates have been made to the Residential Aged Care Facilities COVID-19 Direction.

The Emergency Management (Residential Aged Care Facilities No 11) (COVID-19) Direction 2020 has been revoked and replaced by the Emergency Management (Residential Aged Care Facilities No 12) (COVID-19) Direction 2020. This new Direction comes into effect at 0001hrs on Thursday 5 November 2020

The new Direction provides an update to changes in restrictions for people visiting and working at Aged Care Facilities

  • Care and support visits are no longer restricted to 1 person or 2 persons together.
  • There is no longer a restriction on the number of care and support visits a resident can have.
  • A personal care worker whose primary role is to support residents with their daily care needs should, to the extent reasonably possible should not provide care to a resident at another Residential Aged Care Facility. However should they provide care at more than facility the facility must notify the Facility Operator that they are doing so, with the Facility being required to keep a register of those workers who do provide care at more than one facility.
  • A Residential Aged Care Facility operator must ensure all persons who provide care to a resident who has undertaken a COVID-19 test wears appropriate personal protective equipment until the test result is known.

It is acknowledged that many restrictions still apply, but they are critical in dealing with the spread of COVID-19.

All existing directions, frequently asked questions and other information can be found here: https://www.covid-19.sa.gov.au/emergency-declarations.

For further information please call the SA COVID-19 Information Line on 1800 253 787 between the hours of 9am to 5pm 7 days per week or go to the SA Health website at www.sahealth.sa.gov.au or www.sa.gov.au/covid-19

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