Our current operating environments in all locations is currently declared as safe for children, young people and families and not in a state of alarm or emergency.
Family Services Australia (FSA’s) organisational values centre on the wellbeing of our staff, clients, families and all communities we support throughout NSW and QLD. Our values of Compassion, Accountability, Respect and Empowerment (CARE) with Integrity ensure that we are operating in a safe environment when considering Coronavirus (COVID-19).
We are ensuring all staff, clients, stakeholders and community are kept SAFE-WELL-STRONG and CONNECTED at all times, including through after-hours at-call. FSA Practice Leaders of FSA’s six service streams are available for further information, advice and support if needed on 1800 FSA 000 (1800 372 000).
All FSA staff, practice leaders and staff are continuing to take detailed hygiene precautions with all community, group work and consult activities, with our response Central Triage Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Framework tracking progress of alerts, information and community intelligence gathered from our Occasions of Service (OoS) that remain active and in place to support our community clients.
FSA are monitoring local Primary Health Network (PHN) and NSW Health Alerts, available on a daily update and we encourage all members of the community to stay informed of these updates. For Daily Updates: https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert
FSA Policy is following the Close Contact; Isolation; and Symptom Development Strategies outlined below.
At this stage there have been no COVID-19 infections in contact with any FSA staff member, representative, community member or client. Should this position change, with even one confirmed case of infection in direct or indirect contact, FSA will immediately update all external communications and commence its pre-established Quarantine Action Plan (QAP) of all persons involved (on a case by case basis).
We look forward to ensuring your safety and wellbeing in taking good care of one another in our community.
Sincerely,
Gary Jackson
Managing Director &
Company Secretary
Family Services Australia
Coronavirus
Coronaviruses are a type of virus that can affect humans and animals. Some coronaviruses cause illness similar to the common cold while other coronaviruses cause more serious illness, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).
Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was first reported in Wuhan City in China in December 2019. Cases have now been confirmed in multiple countries around the world. While there is still much to be learned about infection with COVID-19, it appears that the illness is much less severe than SARS or MERS, and some people with the infection may have only a mild illness.
Close contact
A close contact is someone who has been face to face for at least 15 minutes, or been in the same closed space for at least 2 hours, as someone who has tested positive for the COVID-19 when that person was infectious.
Isolate yourself at home and monitor your health closely
If you have been identified to have had close contact with someone who is confirmed to have infection with COVID-19 while they were infectious, you must:
- Isolate yourself at home until 14 days after you were last exposed to the infectious person. You should not leave the house, except for seeking medical care. You should stay in a different room to other people as much as possible, and wear a surgical mask when you are in the same room as another person and when seeking medical care. Use a separate bathroom if available. Do not go to work, school, or public areas, and do not use public transportation, taxi services or rideshares.
- watch for signs and symptoms:
- fever
- cough
- shortness of breath
- other early symptoms to watch for are chills, body aches, sore throat, headache and runny nose, muscle pain or diarrhoea
If you develop symptoms
- If you are seriously unwell and it is an emergency, call 000 immediately.
- Continue to keep yourself apart from other people as much as possible (eg in a different room).
- Wear a surgical mask if you have one.
- Call your local public health unit on 1300 066 055, they will assess you and advise on what to do next.
- If you can’t contact the public health unit, see a doctor, preferably at a hospital emergency department, as soon as possible.
- Phone the emergency department before attending so they can make arrangements for when you arrive to prevent spread of infection to others.
- Do not travel on public transport, use taxis or ride-shares and do not attend any public places.