24 August 2022
Dear family member/resident representative,
I am writing to provide you with an update about your loved one’s aged care centre and firstly I have sad news to share.
We have been notified that our resident who was transferred to Moruya Hospital last week sadly passed away on Monday.
The resident, who was in his 80s, will be greatly missed by his friends and staff at IRT Crown Gardens. On behalf of everyone at IRT, I would like to pass on my sincere condolences to the resident’s family and friends, and our residents and staff at Crown Gardens who are saddened by his passing.
As they always do when one of our residents passes away, staff will go about their work today caring for all our residents, and in quiet moments will reflect on what they knew of the resident, the connections they made with him, and his long life, well lived.
Test results
We have received the results of our last round of PCR tests and pleasingly all were negative.
I’m also glad to share that two of our residents who were previously diagnosed with COVID-19 have reached their full recovery criteria and are now free of the virus. Full recovery occurs at least 10 days after diagnosis and a further 24 hours without symptoms.
We are now caring for one resident with the virus in the Vitality Wing and we expect this resident to also reach their full recovery criteria in the coming days, pending a final review.
With this pleasing news, the local public health unit has officially closed the outbreak at our care centre and provided us with guidance to begin our transition back to regular operations, including a resumption of regular visiting arrangements from today.
The closure of the outbreak also means that all residents, except for the one resident still recovering from the virus, are no longer required to isolate and are now free to leave their rooms and resume normal activities.
Visiting arrangements
With the outbreak now officially resolved, visiting arrangements can resume as follows:
- There is no limit to the number of visitors (of any age) that a resident can have at any one time. I do ask that you be mindful of the surrounding environment and size of your loved one’s room.
- All visitors are asked to complete their own rapid antigen test at home or on arrival at the centre and provide proof of the negative result (photo or actual test). The stations at the care centre are self-serve so our staff can be more available to residents in their roles as carers.
- If a visitor is unable to complete their own rapid antigen test they will need to make an appointment at the care centre for the test to be conducted by staff prior to entry. Contact numbers for staff to assist are displayed at self-serve rapid antigen testing stations.
- Unless, as above, assistance is required with rapid antigen testing on entry appointments for visits are no longer required.
- All visitors are to complete the wellness questionnaire on arrival. This includes confirmation that they have had at least 2 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine and the 2022 influenza vaccine.
- All visitors must wear surgical masks when visiting a resident in their room or a P2N95 mask if visiting a resident in common areas (in this case, the Care Centre will provide visitors with the P2N95 mask).
- No cloth masks are permitted.
As always please do not visit your loved one if you are experiencing any symptoms or are feeling unwell, even if the symptoms are mild. Even if you have a negative COVID-19 test result you may still have influenza or another virus which is highly contagious.
Please pass this message on to others as you consider appropriate and if you have any questions please contact your Care Manager.
Thank you for your support.
Yours sincerely
Nia Briguglio
EGM – Aged Care Centres
