Older people are more vulnerable to infectious respiratory diseases due to their health and care requirements. Aged care residents are particularly vulnerable due to shared living arrangements and frequent contact with staff and visitors.
Outbreak preparation
Aged care providers are responsible for:
- protecting older people in their care
- delivering safe, high-quality care that meets the needs and rights of older people
- preparing for and preventing outbreaks in aged care homes.
Providers are obligated by the Aged Care Quality Standards to minimise infection-related risks, including:
- promote vaccinations for care recipients and workers
- have infection prevention and control (IPC) program in place, including an appointed IPC Lead Nurse onsite
- outbreak management procedures and workforce planning processes in place
- provide IPC training and education to all your workers
- make personal protective equipment (PPE) and rapid antigen test (RAT) kits, waste management and cleaning supplies available
- discuss emergency and outbreak planning with care recipients, their families and carers, including isolation choices for aged care residents.
Resources are available to help you develop your management plans.
Residential aged care providers should also:
- ensure residents have regular access to vaccinations, including COVID-19 and flu
- get residents assessed for COVID-19 oral antiviral treatments before testing positive and make treatments accessible
- discuss referral pathways and alternate clinical arrangements with GPs and nurse practitioners.
We provide support to Australian Government-funded residential aged care services in a COVID-19 outbreak.
IPC training
Aged care providers are responsible for IPC training for all workers, including:
- IPC Lead Nurses
- aged care workers
- kitchen, cleaning, and laundry workers
- volunteers
- administration and management workers.
We provide resources and training modules.
Residential aged care homes must appoint an ongoing IPC lead that is on-site to:
- provide advice on outbreak management
- ensure IPC processes and measures are in place
- respond to infectious disease outbreaks.
Vaccination
Providers must make sure residents have timely access to recommended vaccinations as soon as they are eligible.
The National Immunisation Program (NIP) provides free vaccines against several diseases, including COVID-19 and flu vaccines.
People aged 75 years and older are recommended a COVID-19 vaccination every 6 months.
People aged between 65 to 74 years, are recommended a COVID-19 vaccination every 12 months. They can consider a dose every 6 months, based on health needs.
All adults are recommended annual COVID-19 and flu vaccinations.
The COVID-19 and flu vaccines can be administered at the same time. There is no waiting time required between a COVID-19 infection and vaccination.
Older people can receive a vaccination from:
- a Nurse Practitioner or GP and pharmacist including those visiting aged care homes
- community health centre
- Aboriginal health service.
Contact your local PHN if you need help to organise a vaccination clinic or arrange a GP to deliver vaccinations.
Providers are also responsible for:
- discussing, organising and recording consent from residents before a vaccination
- maintaining your own vaccination records.
COVID-19 vaccination rates for residential aged care homes are published monthly on our website.
Managing an outbreak
When a care recipient tests positive for an infectious respiratory disease, providers should:
- activate your emergency management plan or outbreak management plan
- monitor for signs and symptoms and contact the person’s GP
- discuss key decision planning with care recipients and their representatives, and if an aged care resident, choices regarding isolation
- increase IPC measures, including use of PPE, conduct early testing, either by (RAT) kits or polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
- help the person access other care arrangements, if needed
- minimise the number of workers who come into contact with care recipients
- communicate with workers, recipients, residents, families and visitors
- consider which services are critical to keep the care recipient safe.
For aged care homes, an outbreak is:
- declared if 2 or more residents test positive within a 72-hour period for any respiratory infection
- closed 7 days after the last case tests positive, or the date of isolation of the last resident case, whichever is longer.
Residential aged care providers must follow the national outbreak management guidelines, including use of PPE when entering the home or room of a person who has tested positive to a respiratory infection.
Refer to your local PHN for guidance.
Screening and managing visitors in aged care homes
The Sector Code for Visiting in Aged Care Homes is a nationally consistent approach that ensures residents can receive visitors while minimising the risk of spreading infections.
All visitors should:
- be well and free of respiratory symptoms
- strongly encouraged to take a rapid antigen test before entry
- be encouraged to wear a mask during their visit
- not visit if positive to an infectious respiratory disease, like COVID-19, flu or RSV for at least 7 days and be symptom free.
Providers should regularly review screening arrangements in line with the current risk in their community.
See the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission for:
Stay informed
To stay up to date on aged care and COVID-19:
Find the latest advice and resources in your state or territory from your local public health agency.
Resources
Planning
- The Aged Care Infection Prevention and Control Guide
- National Guidelines for the Prevention, Control and Public Health Management of Outbreaks of Acute Respiratory Infection (including COVID-19 and Influenza) in Residential Care Facilities
- Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission guidance on dealing with infectious outbreaks
- First 24 hours checklist–Management of acute respiratory infections or outbreaks in residential aged care homes
- COVID-19 resources for health professionals, including aged care providers, pathology providers and health care managers
Infection prevention and control
- Infectious respiratory disease prepare and prevent
- COVID-19 environmental cleaning and disinfection principles for health and residential care facilities
- Aged care COVID-19 infection control training
- Hand hygiene and infection prevention and control eLearning modules
- IPC for aged care eLearning modules – for all aged care workers
- IPC advanced education eLearning modules – for health care, aged and disability care workers and organisations, and workforce groups.