Our Response To COVID-19

Giving you choice and control

Yiga Ability Care has continued to monitor the COVID-19 situation on a daily basis to ensure that we are keeping our customers and our staff safe.

Yiga Ability Care follows the advice from the Australian Federal Government and the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). This includes implementing

DHHS’s guidance for coronavirus (COVID-19) planning in the community services sector

https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/information-community-services-coronavirus-covid-19,

and meeting the official Australian Government COVID-19 guidelines

https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert/coronavirus-covid-19-resources

Current Victorian DHHS restrictions – as at 8 July 2020:

A State of Emergency was declared in Victoria on 16 March 2020 to manage COVID-19, currently active to 29 July 2020. This provides the Chief Health Officer with additional powers to issue directions to help contain the spread of COVID-19 and keep Victorians safe. As part of this, Victorians have been directed to stay at home to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

In line with advice from the Victorian Chief Health Officer, the Victorian Government has announced that metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire will return to Stage 3 Stay at Home restrictions from 11.59pm on Wednesday 8 July 2020.

If you live in one of these areas, there will once again only be four reasons to leave your home:

1. Shopping for food and supplies
2. Medical care and caregiving
3. Exercise and recreation
4. Study and work – if you can’t do it from home

If you live outside metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire, there are only three reasons to enter these areas:

1. shopping for food and supplies,
2. medical care and caregiving,
3. and study or work – if you can’t do it from home.

Caring for our customers

Supporting and safeguarding our customers is our top priority. 

We have remained committed to ensuring the safety of our customers during the COVID-19.  In doing so, we have implemented a range of actions that align with the advice of the Australian Federal Government, the Victoria Department of Health and Human Services, the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the World Health Organisation, and our own quality practices.

Yiga Ability Care  has also implemented a number of key measures to ensure the safety of our customers and our staff, some of which include:

• Scaling down our supports and services requiring person-to-person contact
• In some cases, where staff have been required to support our customers with feeding, getting dressed, etc, our staff have been trained to:
• Practice good hand hygiene before and after supporting customers;
• Assist customers if they feel or become unwell to access their medical practitioner to get tested or call the ambulance service 000
• Our customers have been training on practising good hand hygiene and keeping a safe distance from staff and others.

 

We have continued to stay connected with our customers through the provision of up to date information on current restrictions in Victoria is available on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) via email, postal main, our website and through our care staff.

Please do not hesitate to contact your Services Manager if you have any questions.

In addition, customers have also received information on how to keep safe and healthy and what to do if they felt unwell.   Our office staff are available to direct customers to the right information channels whenever they called with a question on COVID-19 including access to the NDIS information and support available for NDIS participants that cover:

• Latest advice and news
• Information for participants
• Priority home delivery services
• Easy English, AUSLAN and languages other than English support
• Visit the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Safety measures

Safety measures that will be in place to support the continuation of our services include:

• Temperature checks for customers and staff;
• Adequate supplies of hand sanitiser and other personal hygiene aids;
• Enhanced safety signage;
• Manual recording of contact details;
• Additional cleaning arrangements; and
• Limits on activities where physical distancing cannot be achieved.

Staying connected

Yiga Ability Care  will continue to provide updated information via mail-outs, our website and through your local manager. Please do not hesitate to contact our office if you have any questions.

Yiga Ability Care looks forward to resuming full-service capacity over time and we encourage you to remain safe and vigilant. Please consider the safety of yourself and others at all times.

Contacts

If you have a specific question or need to speak to Yiga Ability Care directly, please contact us.

Caring for our staff

Yiga Ability Care  has continued to honour our duty of care to our staff especially during the COVID-19. Our particular focus has been on protecting their wellbeing.

We have implemented a number of strategies including:

• Ensuring ongoing communication and accurate information updates are provided to all staff via emails, website and through their direct supervisors;
• Rotate workers from higher-stress to lower-stress areas and functions
• Implementing flexible schedules for workers who are directly impacted or have a family member affected by a stressful event
• Providing opportunities for social support
• Ensuring that staff are aware of where and how they can access mental health and psychological support services and facilitate access to such services
• Providing information for self-care strategies.

If you have a specific question or need to speak to Yiga Ability Care directly, please contact us.

If you’re feeling sick, you should stay at home.

Call your doctor. Do not go to the doctor – call first.

They will tell you if you need to be tested.

You might need to be tested if you:

just came back from overseas
have been in contact with someone who has coronavirus.
Information and support are available. You are not alone.

Contact the Disability Information Helpline on 1800 643 787 or visit www.dss.gov.au/disabilityhelp

Keeping yourself and others safe and healthy

Stay away from lots of people. Try to keep 1.5 metres away from other people.
Wash your hands many times per day.
Try not to touch your face.
Sneeze or cough into a tissue or your elbow.
Call the doctor if you feel unwell.
There are a number of ways to help reduce the spread of COVID-19, one of the easiest to practice is good personal hygiene.

Hygiene

It is important to practise good personal hygiene to help reduce the spread of germs.

You can help to reduce the risk of catching or spreading COVID-19 by:

Wash your hands regularly and thoroughly, for at least 20 seconds using soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub. This helps kill any germs that may be on your hands.
When coughing or sneezing, cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or bent elbow. This will limit the spread of the droplets that contain the virus.
Try to limit touching your eyes, nose and mouth with your hands to avoid the virus from entering your body and making you ill, if your hands are contaminated.
Social distancing

This means having less contact between you and the people around you. It can be practised at home, at work, and while out in the community.

The Australian Department of Health has made some recommendations to maintain social distancing, including:

Avoid places and events where there are lots of people especially if you are unwell, elderly or have a pre-existing health condition.
If around other people, keep a minimum of 1.5 metres distance between yourself and others.
Don’t hug, kiss or shake hands with other people.
Cover your nose and mouth with a face mask to stop yourself from potentially spreading the virus to someone else, especially if you are not well and need to go out in the community
Stay home and only go out for necessary trips.
Limit physical contact. Rather than shaking hands as a greeting, just say hello, wave or nod as an alternative.
Let fresh air into your home or workplace by opening windows for more ventilation.
If your child is not well, keep them home from school or childcare.
Seeking medical attention

All health practitioners have introduced measures to keep you safe when seeking medical attention during COVID-19.

If you are unwell and have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, call your doctor before attending an appointment. This will allow them to direct you to the right health facility without coming into contact with others, and help prevent the spread of coronavirus and other infections.

If you have trouble breathing, call an ambulance straight away on 000.

Should you wear a mask?

22 July 2020

The Victorian Government has mandated the use of face masks for all people living in metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire including the use of masks for disability workers.

The advice to wear a face mask in metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire does not apply to children (people aged under 12), people with breathing difficulties and anyone who has physical conditions that make it difficult to wear a face mask.

Read our ‘Your health and safety’ FAQs on face masks by visiting

https://www.ndis.gov.au/coronavirus/participants-coronavirus-covid-19/your-health-and-safety

How to wear a face mask correctly?

You wear a face mask that covers your nose and mouth to help protect yourself from anyone who is infected from COVID-19 and to protect others in case you are infected with COVID-19.

Wash your hands before putting on your face covering
Put it over your nose and mouth and secure it under your chin
Try to fit it snugly against the sides of your face
Make sure you can breathe easily
Don’t put the face covering around your neck or up on your forehead
Don’t touch the face covering, and, if you do, wash your hands or use hand sanitiser to disinfect​

Taking off your face mask

Untie the strings behind your head or stretch the ear loops
Handle only by the ear loops or ties
Fold outside corners together
Place covering in the bin (if disposable) or washing machine
Be careful not to touch your eyes, nose, and mouth when removing and wash hands immediately after removing.

Feeling unwell?

If you develop a fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, loss of smell or taste, seek medical attention.

Get tested at a nearby testing location
Call your doctor
Visit the emergency department
If you are in an emergency, or at immediate risk of harm to yourself or others, please contact emergency services on Triple Zero (000).

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The National Disability Insurance Scheme has a full directory of FAQ’s that are updated daily. You can find answers to commonly asked questions by visiting https://www.ndis.gov.au/coronavirus

For more information visit: https://www.disabilitysupportguide.com.au/talking-disability/how-to-help-keep-yourself-healthy-and-safe-during-covid-19

Australian Government response to COVID-19 including restrictions to movement and closures.

NDS supports download and use of the COVIDSafe app. Information about its use, privacy protections and links to download is available.

If you are concerned about your health call the Coronavirus Health Information line 1800 020 080. If you require translating or interpreting services, call 131 450. Health Direct, a government-funded service, has a symptom checker available on their website.

Training courses on infection prevention and control are available.

Commonwealth Department of Health – Infection Control Training – COVID 19, relevant for all support workers, including those in disability and aged care.
A discounted NDS online evidence-based course.