A south-west Sydney aged care facility has begun daily rapid COVID-19 testing of its staff as the region battles to contain an ongoing outbreak of the deadly virus.
Whiddon Easton Park aged care home in Glenfield began rapid testing of its staff on Tuesday.
In a statement to residents and their families, management of the aged care home said they were pleased to introduce the new measure to further protect residents and employees during the evolving COVID-19 situation in Sydney.
“Rapid antigen tests are taken on-the-spot and deliver a positive or negative result in just 10 minutes,” it said.
“They are approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, and under supervision of a registered nurse, employees have been trained to administer the tests themselves and should a positive result be detected, the employee must then take a standard diagnostic test in line with Government advice.”
It said employees were encouraged to have the test when they arrived for the start of a shift.
“Research has shown that the frequency of the testing is the most important factor in controlling the spread of infection,” Whiddon management said.
“Employees will be encouraged to test every day to begin with and then every other day following that, while community transmission remains high.
“We are proud to bring this industry leading initiative to Whiddon Easton Park as it adds a very important layer of increased protection for residents and employees against COVID-19, while community transmission rates are high.
“We are also working hard to ensure our employees are vaccinated as soon as possible, and we have a clinic running today and tomorrow to provide vaccinations to employees.”
NSW reported 97 new COVID-19 cases today, with 29 infectious while in the community and the source of 34 cases currently unknown.
