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Author:
Michelle Bibby
Email:
michelle@INFECTIONPREVENTION.COM.AU
Organisation:
Infection Prevention Australia
State:
Thanks Kelly. The absence of concrete guidance is frustrating. We are still undertaking 3rd daily RAT for staff, and on entry, for visitors to Aged Care. I am looking to reducing the frequency of testing to symptomatic staff only, with the proviso that a negative COVID RAT does not mean staff should attend work.
Visitors who attend daily have been allowed to reduce the frequency of testing to 3rd daily, but ad hoc visitors still undertake RAT on site each visit. I’d love some direction about how we manage visitor testing once the Government funded RATs cease.
I have also obtained a quote for the triple capability RATs at $5.80 each which is a considerable saving on PCR costs and allow for rapid response to the causative organism. We are likely to implement these for our Acute and UCC patients as well for the same reason. Obviously Respiratory PCR has the capacity to detect other pathogens, but in a small facility, such as ours, the fast turnaround is really useful.