Maintain Covid vigilance, providers told
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission’s chief clinical advisor has written to providers to warn them to remain vigilant over future variants of Covid-19.
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission’s chief clinical advisor Dr Melanie Wroth has written to aged care providers to thank them for their ongoing efforts in protecting residents and staff from Covid-19 while also warning them to remain vigilant.
“Thank you for all your efforts and continued focus on protecting your residents and staff from Covid-19 over the last two and a half years,” wrote Dr Wroth. “The sector as a whole is better prepared and more informed about infection control processes now than ever before.”
With experts warning of a likelihood of further waves of new coronavirus variants for months if not years to come, Dr Wroth told providers: “We must be careful to maintain our vigilance and not slip back into pre-Covid-19 habits.”
It’s also crucial that providers understand and can articulate the various risks as they change over time, added Dr Wroth. “This includes keeping up-to-date with the Covid-19 situation in your state or territory, local community and within your service. This knowledge will help to inform any decisions you make in regard to responding to heightened risks of, or an actual outbreak.”
These decisions should be shared with residents, families and visitors, said Dr Wroth. “Communicating these updates clearly, and providing as much information as possible, will help to build trust with those in your care and their loved ones.”
Providers must also ensure they continue to focus on six key protection and response methods said Dr Wroth.
Latest government figures show, as of 1 December, there were 4,381 Covid cases across 642 aged care homes.
Beyond Covid-19, there may well be outbreaks of other infectious diseases, wrote Dr Wroth. “Effective Covid-19 management strategies are effective infectious disease management strategies, and it is important that we continue to get these strategies right.”
Dr Wroth also reached out to aged care residents and their families. Although the risks posed by the virus are far more manageable now than they were when the pandemic first hit Australia early 2020, “the risks have not been reduced to zero,” she warned.
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