Uniting Team COVID-19 Updates

Please see information from the Department of Health here, and a list of public exposure sites here.

Please follow government and medical advice, and get tested and quarantine or isolate if needed. If you are tested for coronavirus, please tell Jen Park, Head of People Services.

From 6pm tonight, Saturday 1 May, you must wear a mask indoors and outdoors. We expect this situation to change rapidly over the weekend, and we will update you if anything changes.

The following restrictions will be in place from midnight tonight until midnight Friday 7 May:

• Masks are not required outdoors except when physical distancing is not possible
• Masks are required indoors, including workplaces and public transport
• 1 household can visit 1 patient per day in a hospital, aged care or disability facility.

Further information and a full list of restrictions can be found here: https://www.wa.gov.au/government/announcements/perth-and-peel-lockdown-restrictions-ease-further

Please speak to your team lead or manager if you have concerns about the new restrictions or to talk about our Flexible Work arrangements.

If you have been tested for COVID-19, please let Jen Park know.

The interim restrictions will be in place for the next four days – from midnight tonight (Monday 26 April) through to midnight on Friday 30 April.

As more people are tested over the next few days, the situation will be reviewed before a plan for Saturday 1 May onwards is announced.

These will be the new arrangements for Perth and Peel from midnight on Monday 26 April:

• People in the Perth and Peel regions will be free to leave their homes
• Masks will remain mandatory, both indoors and outdoors and on public transport
• Masks are not mandatory if you’re doing vigorous outdoor exercise or if you’re exempt due to disability or another reason
• People can return to work unless they can work from home or they are in a vulnerable category
• There will be a 20-person limit in all homes, and private indoor and outdoor gatherings
• The 4 square metre capacity rule also applies – though workplaces, schools and public transport are exempt from this rule
• Visits to disability care facilities are restricted to compassionate grounds only.

Please visit wa.gov.au for a full list of interim restrictions and other information.

Work arrangements

The stay-at-home order will be revoked from midnight tonight (Monday 26 April) so you can return to work unless you can work from home or you’re in a vulnerable category.

Here are some policies you might find useful:

• Working from Home Policy
• Flexible Work Practices Policy

If you have any questions, please speak with your Team Lead or Practice Lead (or equivalent).

COVID-19 testing and arranging leave

If you have had a COVID-19 test for any reason, please remember to advise Head of People Services, Jen Park.  Jen can also assist if you have any queries about taking leave.

Anyone who wishes to use leave or change leave as a result of the lockdown may do so in line with our Pandemic Leave Policy and with the approval of your supervisor.  For instructions on how to change leave in CiA, click here.

If you have any queries about these policies, get in touch with the People Services team.

PPE

We have sufficient stocks of PPE and the State Government is providing additional masks for all employees and the people we support. If you need additional PPE stock, please get in touch with Practice Lead, Risk and Compliance, Carmel Whitfield on 0419 952 116.

A new community case of COVID-19 has been confirmed, and the WA Department of Health is working on contact tracing.

Please see information from the Department of Health here, and a list of public exposure sites here.

Please follow government and medical advice, and get tested and quarantine or isolate if needed. If you are tested for coronavirus, please tell Jen Park, Head of People Services.

The lockdown affects the Perth and Peel regions (Great Southern is not affected).

Masks are mandatory from 6pm on Friday 23 April.

You will be kept informed of the situation via SMS and this team page. Visit the WA Department of Health website for a list of known hotspots.

The Department of Health is contacting all confirmed cases to identify and inform close contacts. If you have been at any of the locations identified at the times specified on the Department of Health website, you need to attend a COVID clinic for testing and isolate at home until you receive a negative result.

If you have any questions, please speak with your Team Lead or Practice Lead (or equivalent).

Essential services only

All non-critical face-to-face services are suspended. You should only continue to work if you support a critical service that cannot be provided from home (such as Family Group Homes, Tranby, Street to Home outreach, My Home, etc).

Work arrangements – home or the office?

If the lockdown continues beyond Monday 26 April, you are required to work from home during the lockdown unless you:

1. Work in a critical service that cannot be provided from home (such as Family Group Homes, Tranby, Street to Home outreach, My Home, etc) or;
2. Cannot complete your work to a suitable standard from home and have approval from your Practice Lead (or equivalent) to continue working from a Uniting office.

Arranging leave

Anyone who wishes to use leave or change leave as a result of the lockdown may do so with the approval of your supervisor. For instructions on how to change leave in CiA, click here.

For policies relating to leave, working from home and flexible work practices, please scroll down to previous posts where you’ll find links for:

• Pandemic Leave Policy
• Working from Home Policy
• Flexible Work Practices Policy
• COVID testing.

If you have any queries about these policies, get in touch with the People Services team.

If you have a COVID test for any reason, please notify Head of People Services, Jen Park.

PPE

If you do go to work, you must wear a mask at all times outside of your home.

We have sufficient stocks of PPE and the State Government is providing additional masks for all employees and the people we support. If you need additional PPE stock, please get in touch with Practice Lead, Risk and Compliance, Carmel Whitfield on 0419 952 116.

Informing the people we support

Teams are contacting people affected by reduced services and the news and resources page will be regularly updated. People we support should direct their general enquiries to their Uniting Service Lead or Support Worker.

If you have any queries about informing the people we support, please contact your team lead or practice lead (or equivalent).

Uniting continues to be guided by health directives from Commonwealth and State Governments regarding vaccine requirements and fully supports the phased rollout of the COVID vaccine as a critical public health issue.

Team members who support people with disability living in residential support settings fall into the priority category Phase 1a and will have the opportunity to become one of the first people to receive the free vaccine in Australia.  You can learn more about the priority groups on the Department of Health website.

While the COVID vaccine is voluntary, Uniting encourages all eligible team members to receive it.

What this means for people we support

Participants who live in Uniting supported accommodation homes also fall into the Phase 1a priority group, while Participants who are only supported in the community fall into the Phase 1b priority group.

Participants and their families/guardians will be contacted shortly to explain the phased rollout and how it impacts them. You may also need to support Participants to understand and access the phased rollout of the COVID vaccine. There are Easy Read and other resources available to help you with this.

Information and resources for people we support, including Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), will also be shared via the COVID update page in the News and Resources section of the Uniting website.

What next

Details about the timing and location for receiving vaccines are still to be confirmed. We’ll continue to keep you updated via email and on this page.

Some Participants and guardians may choose to complete a COVID vaccine consent form in advance and return it to us ahead of their vaccination. If you receive a completed consent form from a Participant, please forward it to your Service Lead or Senior Case Worker.

If you have any questions about the COVID vaccine rollout, please get in touch with your Service Lead or Senior Case Worker.

While masks are no longer required to be worn either inside or outside, people should continue to practice good hygiene and social distancing (2 square metre rule applies).

For more information about the restrictions that are still in place, visit the WA state government website.

For information for the people we support, see the news and resources page on our website.

To access the government advice in different languages, click here.

Stay-at-home rules will be lifted, but interim restrictions will apply to Perth and Peel until 12:01am on Sunday morning, 14 February. The South West will immediately return to pre-lockdown conditions today at 6pm.

Post-lockdown measures for the Perth and Peel regions until Sunday 14 February include:

• Masks must be worn at all times in public and while at work, unless exempt or for vigorous outdoor exercise
• 20-person limit for private indoor and outdoor gatherings
• 4 square metre capacity rule
• All businesses and venues can reopen, except for Crown Casino and nightclubs
• 150-person capacity at hospitality and entertainment venues including weddings and funerals
• Only essential travel in and out of the Perth and Peel regions to other parts of WA.

Please note that the 4 square metre rule and 20-person limit for private gatherings do not apply to office environments.

For more information on the post-lockdown measures visit www.wa.gov.au.

Work arrangements – home, community and the office

Team members who normally work in the office are now able to work from office locations if they wear a mask. If your circumstances allow it, you may have the opportunity to continue working from home.

Residential and community-based services will operate under strict hygiene and health protocols.

For policies relating to leave, working from home and flexible work practices, please see the links below.  If you have any queries about these policies, get in touch with the People Services team.

Pandemic Leave Policy

Working from Home Policy

Flexible Work Policy

If you’re unsure about what these lockdown changes mean for you, please speak with your Practice Lead (or equivalent).

PPE – Wearing a mask

The state government have developed posters to help inform the community about mask wearing.

View this poster about when and how to wear a mask

View this poster about how to use cloth vs disposable masks

Listen to this community radio announcement about wearing masks

A reminder about COVID testing

If you have a COVID test for any reason, please notify Head of People Services, Jen Park, at jen.park@unitingwa.org.au.

For more information about COVID testing visit the WA Department of Health website.

The lockdown affects the Perth, Peel and the South-West regions (Great Southern is not affected).

You will be kept informed of the situation via SMS, email, website, Hub (intranet) and meetings. If you have any questions, please speak with your Team Lead or Practice Lead (or equivalent).

Work arrangements – home or the office?

You are required to work from home during the lockdown unless you:

• Work in a critical service that cannot be provided from home (such as Family Group Homes, Tranby, Street to Home outreach, My Home, etc)
• Cannot complete your work to a suitable standard from home and have approval from your Practice Lead (or equivalent) to continue working from a Uniting office.

Anyone who wishes to use leave or change leave as a result of the lockdown may do so with the approval of your supervisor.  For instructions on how to change leave in CiA, click here.

For policies relating to leave, working from home and flexible work practices, please see the links below.  If you have any queries about these policies, get in touch with the People Services team.

Pandemic Leave Policy

Working from Home Policy

Flexible Work Policy

COVID testing

If you have a COVID test for any reason, please notify Head of People Services, Jen Park.

To view the full list of locations visited by confirmed cases of COVID-19, visit the WA Health Department website.

PPE and hand sanitiser

If you do go to work, you must wear a mask at all times outside of your home (except when driving by yourself).

We have sufficient stocks of PPE for the week and the State Government is providing additional masks for all employees and the people we support.

We also have large bottles of hand sanitiser available in the kitchens at our inner-city, Fremantle and Merriwa offices. Please re-fill your handy 50ml hand sanitiser bottles issued to you by Uniting and take them with you at all times.

Got questions re PPE? Get in touch with the Admin team.

Fleet vehicles

If you have a booking for a Uniting fleet vehicle that you will no longer use, please cancel the booking in the system.

If you do use a fleet vehicle, please remember to use your own hand sanitiser before entering the vehicle, wear a face mask, and keep vehicles clean. Please do not use alcohol-based cleaners on vehicle surfaces to avoid damage.

Contact the facilities team if you need more information.

Informing the people we support

The COVID-19 updates page on the website will be updated to help inform the people we support. Teams are also contacting people affected by reduced services.

People we support can direct their general enquiries to hello@unitingwa.org.au.

If you have any queries about informing the people we support, please contact your team lead or practice lead (or equivalent).

While we’re not currently in lockdown, you should still take standard prevention measures to protect yourself, your family, and the people you support from the spread of coronavirus.

Standard prevention measures should be followed, including:

• Not coming to work if unwell
• Practicing good hand hygiene
• Physical distancing
• Cough etiquette
• Ensuring good ventilation
• Cleaning/disinfecting practices
• Using the SafeWA app
• Obeying self-isolation/quarantine requirements.

Since March last year we’ve held ongoing COVID-19 Working Group meetings to make sure we continue to work to protect the safety of our employees and clients.

Below is a summary of our existing COVID response measures:

• Teams will work from home where possible – see Flexible Work Practices (which incorporates Working from Home) and Pandemic Plan – Flexible Work Policy;
• Team members are supported to not come to work if unwell and need to seek testing/self-isolate – see Pandemic Leave Policy.
• Programs that can do so, will deliver services via alternative methods e.g. phone, video conference and suspend non-essential activities.
• Contractual Response: All funders will be communicated with to discuss impacts on contractual obligations and agree temporary solutions to maintain deliverables.
• Training Modules: Infection Control (all employees) and PPE Use (relevant employees).

Face to face services – suspension of non-essential activities, limiting of non-essential people to the site/homes, pre-visit phone checks to assess risk.

• PPE, Hygiene and Cleaning: PPE Emergency Response Kits and hand sanitiser have been delivered to all face-to-face service sites/homes with PPE stock for 3-4 days. These are not to be used for general PPE requirements. 2 x dedicated bins provided to each site to assist in contaminated PPE disposal. Service Agreement in place with Cleanaway to deliver biohazard bins. PPE and hygiene stock is being ordered centrally by ICH admin so we can monitor and maintain adequate levels.
• Response Procedures developed to respond to a suspected/confirmed case of COVID, enter/exit an isolation area, don/doff PPE, dispose of contaminated PPE, clean reusable PPE and clean/disinfect a home/office. Procedures have been provided with the PPE kits and team members must familiarise themselves with these.
• Access Restriction signage: Provided with PPE kits that restrict access to a home/site and isolation areas within the home.
• Risk and Contingency Assessments for individual homes/clients to assess the risk of them contracting the virus and potential impacts/mitigations have been done.
• Employee Contingency Planning to understand which team members are able to work in a COVID positive environment, their competencies, other employers etc. Employees are to advise their line manager if their personal circumstances will/may prevent them carrying out their normal duties/roster.
• Participant Awareness and Support: Resources have been made available to teams to help educate and support clients. Updates have been provided to Family and Guardian reference group.

For team members delivering face to face services in a suspected or confirmed COVID environment or even in the event of known community transmission, additional precautions are outlined in Keeping COVID safe when transitioning from work to home.

If you have any COVID queries or concerns, please contact your line manager or our COVID Coordinator Carmel Whitfield, Practice Lead – Risk and Compliance.

To assist with any potential COVID contact tracing requirements, the following measures are being put in place: