How To Protect Yourself and Others

Everyone must practise good hygiene to protect against infection and prevent the virus spreading.

Good hygiene includes:

• Covering your coughs and sneezes with your elbow or a tissue

• Disposing of tissues properly

• Washing your hands often with soap and water, including before and after eating and after going to the toilet

• Using alcohol-based hand sanitisers

• Cleaning and disinfecting surfaces if you are sick, avoiding contact with others and staying more than 1.5 metres away from people

• Cleaning and sanitising frequently used objects such as mobiles, keys and wallets

If you have a confirmed case, you need to self-isolate to prevent it spreading to other people.

Surgical masks

Surgical masks in the community are only helpful in preventing people who have coronavirus disease from spreading it to others.

If you are well, you do not need to wear a surgical mask. There is little evidence that widespread use of surgical masks in healthy people prevents transmission in public.

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To learn more about the importance of practising good hygiene and knowing when to see a Doctor, please visit the Department of Health's website below:

https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert

#COVID19

Organisation Update (COVID-19)

Please see below an important update from Chief Executive Officer, Michelle Latailakepa. As a precautionary measure, we made the decision to postpone our scheduled Close the Gap morning teas earlier this week and have closed our Emerald House Drop-in Centre and Preloved Homewares Op Shop for the foreseeable future. Outside of this closure, I would just like to reaffirm that it is ‘business’ as usual for us, with our three offices across both Queensland and New South Wales remaining open to best serve the people we support. We are committed to continuing our delivery of supports and are taking proactive measures to protect the health and safety of our wonderful team.

While none of this means we need to panic, it does mean we need to respond responsibly in line with government and medical advice and begin planning for a potential worsening of the situation. We urge you to stay vigilant. Please do not attend our site or services if you are showing signs of a runny nose, sore throat, cough, fever or difficulty breathing or have recently returned from overseas. Please wash your hands thoroughly when you enter one of our sites.

If you are concerned that you or your loved one may be infected:

• The National 24/7 Hotline triages people with respiratory symptoms and those who are concerned about contact with a possible Coronavirus case. If you think you may be infected, you can call the triage hotline on 1800 020 080.

• Suspected Coronavirus patients can present in person to a GP clinic, a dedicated respiratory clinic or to a hospital ED if they call ahead.

• Please notify us ASAP.

What are the next steps?

We are meeting regularly with senior executives and our Board of Directors to discuss the current health advice and the impact on our service.

• As always, you should feel free to call your key contact person within the organisation if you have any concerns about yourself and/or your loved one of the service.

• We will be continuing to monitor the information provided by the government to ensure the best response in keeping people safe and infection free.

• We need to acknowledge that at some point, this may mean our services might need to reduce.

• We are however working on robust contingency plans to reduce the impact if any of you might experience a reduction in supports.

We will continue to keep you informed and provide as much information as possible.

Michelle Latailakepa Chief Executive Officer

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#COVID19

Why Social Distancing Matters

One way to slow the spread of viruses is social distancing. There are practical things you can do, to protect those more susceptible to the virus.

Households

• Practice good hand and cough/sneeze hygiene

• Avoid handshaking and other physical greetings

• Regularly clean shared high-touch surfaces, such as tables, kitchen benches and doorknobs Increase the amount of fresh air by opening windows or adjusting air conditioning

• Buy more goods and services online so you limit visits to the shop

• Consider what travel and outings are necessary, both individual and family, and go to open places such as parks

Social distancing in the workplace

To reduce the spread of germs in the workplace:

• Stay at home if you are sick

• Consider if large gatherings can be rescheduled, staggered or cancelled

• Stop handshaking and other physical greetings

• Hold meetings via video conferencing or phone call

• Reconsider non-essential business travel

• Defer large face-to-face meetings

• Hold essential meetings outside in the open air if possible

• Promote good hand and cough/sneeze hygiene and provide hand sanitisers for all staff and workers

• Take lunch outside rather than in the lunch room

• Clean and disinfect shared high-touch surfaces regularly

• Consider opening windows and adjusting air conditioning for more fresh air Limit food handling and shared food in the workplace

• Promote strictest hygiene among food preparation (canteen) staff and their close contacts

Social distancing in schools

To reduce the spread of germs or viruses in schools:

• If your child is sick, do not send them to school (or childcare)

• Clean hands when entering school and at regular intervals

• Defer activities that lead to mixing between classes and years

• Avoid queuing, handholding and assemblies

• Promote a regular handwashing schedule

• Clean and disinfect shared high-touch surfaces regularly

• Conduct lessons outdoors where possible

• Consider opening windows and adjusting conditioning for more fresh air

• Promote strictest hygiene among food preparation (canteen) staff and their close contacts

Who is most at risk

In Australia, the people most at risk of getting the virus are those who have:

recently been in in a high risk country or region (mainland China, Iran, Italy or Korea) been in close contact with someone who has a confirmed case of COVID-19

Based on what we know about coronaviruses, those most at risk of serious infection are:

people with compromised immune systems (such as people who have cancer) elderly people Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (as they have higher rates of chronic illness) people with chronic medical conditions people in group residential settings people in detention facilities

How it spreads

The virus can spread from person to person through:

• Close contact with an infectious person (including in the 24 hours before they started showing symptoms)

• Contact with droplets from an infected person’s cough or sneeze touching objects or surfaces (like doorknobs or tables)

• That have cough or sneeze droplets from an infected person, and then touching your mouth or face

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To learn more about social distancing and avoiding public gatherings and visits to vulnerable groups, please visit the Department of Health's website below:

https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert

#COVID19