FAQs for families of residential homes

We will close our homes to in-home visits when advised by NSW Health and following the levels of community transmission of COVID-19 in local government areas. Please refer to each individual aged care home for tailored advice on a whether a particular residential home is open.

If you are well you should continue to visit friends and relatives in aged care homes that are open.

Some people cannot visit a residential aged care home. These are people who:

• have returned from overseas in the past 14 days
• have been in contact with someone confirmed to have COVID-19 in the past 14 days
• are unwell, including with a fever or symptoms of acute respiratory illness (such as cough, sore throat, runny nose, shortness of breath).

Children of all ages can now visit residential aged fare facilities (RACFs).

All visitors, including children, must follow any restrictions outlined by NSW Health. These may include visitor numbers, physical distancing and personal hygiene, and are subject to change at short notice.

Read more information about visiting residential aged care facilities.

Yes, you can send postcards, flowers, gifts or connect virtually via phone calls, video calls, social communication apps etc. In situations of high community transmission gifts may need to be quarantined for a period of time before we can give them to residents. This is part of our infection prevention and control practices and helps reduce the risk of introducing COVID-19 into the care home.

There is no limit to the number of hours you can spend with your loved one.

When you visit a residential care home you may need to:

• conduct visits in a resident’s room, outdoors, or in a specific area designated by the aged care home
• not visit in communal areas with other residents
• follow any directions from NSW Health about visit limits, number of visitors allowed per day, etc. These directions change quickly and we will do our best to keep you informed.

Residents can leave aged care facilities (except Rooty Hill) to attend events that comply with the NSW Government directions about gathering and movement. You will need to let the care home know of the location, number of people attending the event and the date. We have to keep a record of these details for contact tracing purposes.

Depending on levels of community transmission we may ask that you don’t pick up and drop off resident laundry for a short period of time, especially in situations of high community transmission. This is part of our infection prevention and control practices to keep you, residents and staff safe and reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19. Please contact the care home to discuss how we can carefully launder any special items in these situations.

Yes, you may bring pets to visit if arranged with the care home and the home is open to visitors. In situations of high or significant community transmission we may ask you to temporarily pause bringing pets to visits. However, we know how much joy pets bring to residents, so we will enable pet visitation as soon as possible.

No, visitors do not currently need to have a current influenza vaccination (although we anticipate this may change when the 2021 influenza vaccination is released).