Please note that for residential aged care facilities in metropolitan Melbourne the following requirements apply from 11:59 pm 17 June 2021.
Enhanced visitor restrictions
No visitors are permitted into aged care or other sensitive settings, except for end-of-life reasons or other specified purposes.
End of life care visits
- Two visitors at a time
- Do not have to be from the same household.
- No time limits.
- No daily limit.
Specified purposes
- Provide essential care or support for the resident’s immediate physical or emotional wellbeing, including support for people living with dementia.
- Is the parent, carer or guardian of a person under the age of 18.
- As a nominated person (as defined in the Mental Health Act 2014) including support for people living with dementia.
- As an interpreter or to provide language support.
- To learn to support the patient or resident’s care upon discharge.
Visitor restrictions for Specified Purposes visits
- Two visitors at one time
- Do not have to be from the same household
- No time limits.
- Specified purpose required.
- No more than two visitors per day, including dependents.
Recommendation for remote / electronic visits
- Providing interpreter services or acting as a nominated person should be provided remotely unless it is not practicable to do so.
- Other care and support should be provided remotely if reasonable and appropriate in the circumstances (e.g. phone call support for someone with hearing difficulties would not be appropriate).
Prospective residents can visit an aged care facility accompanied by one other person.
Face mask requirements
- All workers and visitors are required to wear face masks:
- Indoors at all time
- outdoors where a distance of 1.5 metres cannot be maintained
- All workers are required to wear eye protection (face shields are preferred) when treating COVID negative patient/residents.
Other measures
- Enhanced screening and testing on admission or return to facility from leave. Residents found to have visited listed exposure sites to be tested and managed as at risk COVID until results known.
- Enhanced focus on screening visitors and staff and continuing daily workforce attestations.
- Restricting visitors and staff found to have visited exposure sites until they have returned a negative test result.
- Tier 3 PPE for low risk suspected COVID-19 and high-risk suspected COVID-19 and confirmed COVID-19 residents.
- Where practicable, care facility workers should be limited to working at one site.
- Student clinical placements permitted in all settings but restricted from providing care/being exposed to high-risk COVID and confirmed COVID patients. Students restricted to one site only.
It is anticipated geographic locations and exposure sites will be updated in coming days. Please monitor the DH coronavirus website for the latest information.