Covid-19 Response Plan
• Purpose
This Response Plan is in line with the Australian Federal Government national guidelines regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, as it is necessary to minimise transmission of COVID-19 within the community.
Transit Physio will continue to serve its community. However, our priority is to focus on preserving the health and safety of the people we are responsible for including our team members, their families and our clients.
The development of this plan is to ensure our organisation is well prepared to engage in the national response to COVID-19.
• Description
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses known to cause respiratory infections. These can range from the common cold to more serious diseases. This new coronavirus is named COVID-19.
COVID-19 can spread via droplets from person-to-person, usually when an infected person coughs or sneezes. The droplets are heavy, so they settle on surfaces. If you touch a surface contaminated with droplets, such as a door handle, and then touch your eyes, nose or mouth, the virus can enter the body.
Although information is changing daily, the common signs of novel coronavirus are:
• Fever
• Coughing (Dry Cough)
• Fatigue
• Shortness of breath
• Thick mucus or phlegm being created in the lungs
It’s important to note, to raise awareness and not spread fear, that while COVID-19 exhibits symptoms similar to the flu, it is not as simple as contracting a seasonal flu. Most people have immunity to the flu, there is a vaccine, and the flu spreads more slowly through the community. There is no vaccine against COVID-19, and it is still highly unpredictable with conditions changing daily.
• Policy & Response Plan
Transit Physio will implement its COVID-19 Response Plan to help ensure the safety of the community if a COVID-19 case is identified within, or connected to Transit Physio. Transit Physio will stop its operations in the following instances:
• A Transit Physio staff member has been diagnosed with COVID-19.
• A confirmed case of COVID-19 has been identified in a visitor to the facility we provide in-house physiotherapy services
A staff member will also be asked to discontinue providing services for 14 days if a confirmed case of COVID-19 has been identified in the staff member’s home, suburb or local area as a precaution.
In the event a Transit Physio staff member is diagnosed with COVID-19, we will follow all appropriate and current government procedures. We will instruct all staff members and patients/participants who have been in contact and/or have been in the same area as the staff member with COVID-19 to seek appropriate medical advice, to be tested for COVID-19, and to self-isolate for 14 days.
• Prevention
There are preventative measures staff can take to protect themselves from infection and help prevent the spread of infections and viruses to others. These measures include practising good respiratory and hand hygiene, such as:
• cleaning hands with soap and water (for a minimum 20 seconds) or alcohol-based hand rubs or sanitisers
• avoiding touching your face
• avoiding handshaking and other physical greetings
• covering your nose and mouth with a tissue or flexed elbow when coughing or sneezing
• avoiding contact with anyone who has symptoms such as fever, a cough, sore throat, fatigue and shortness of breath
• staying home if you are unwell
• regularly clean shared high-touch surfaces, e.g. tables, benches, doorknobs computers
• As a standard precaution, stay at least 1.5 metres away from other people coughing or sneezing with flu-like symptoms.
• Social distancing in the workplace
• Social distancing is critical as COVID-19 is most likely to spread from person-to-person.
The following actions help reduce risk at work:
• Stay at home if you are sick.
• Do not attend large gathering
• Stop handshaking and other physical greetings.
• Hold meetings via video conferencing or phone call.
• Defer large face-to-face meetings.
• Hold essential meetings outside in the open air if possible.
• Clean and disinfect shared high-touch surfaces regularly and use hand sanitiser.
• Consider opening windows and adjusting air conditioning for more fresh air
• Wash hands between each patient/participant
• Wipe down with disinfectant any equipment immediately after use