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COVID-19Community Sector Forum

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EMMA KINGCEO, Victorian Council of Social Service@EmmaKingVic

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Acknowledgement of Country

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LUKE DONNELLANMinister for ChildProtection, Disability,Ageing & Carers@LukeDonnellan

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ARGIRI ALISANDRATOSDeputy Secretary,DHHS

Implications for Community Service Organisations of COVID-19

Argiri Alisandratos

Deputy Secretary

Children, Families, Communities and Disability Division

Department of Health and Human Services

COVID-19 – What we currently know

Highest risk groups• Older Victorians and people with chronic diseases

• Early information suggests milder illness in children, particularly those nine years and under.

Current focus of health response:• Early identification, contact tracing and isolation to slow community spread

Preparation priorities:• Ensuring business continuity plans are current and well understood

• Communicating COVID-19 plans and arrangements with staff

• Promoting good hygiene, including hand hygiene and respiratory/cough etiquette

Business continuity planning

BUSINESS IMPACT ANALYSIS

RECOVERY STRATEGIES

PLAN DEVELOPMENT

TESTING & EXERCISES

During this phase, you will assess the factors that could potentially harm your business and you will create a business impact analysis (BIA). Review the BIA with senior management and key stakeholders to ensure visibility.

Identify and document all resource requirements based on the BIAs completed in the previous step. Determine a plausible recovery strategy based on the needs of the business and the BIA, and document and implement that strategy.

Develop the framework for the continuity plan, establish and organize the recovery teams, and develop a plan of relocation in the case of disruption or disaster. Create a thorough business continuity plan and IT disaster recovery plan, and documentboth in a flexible, circulating document. Gain upper management approval upon completion.

Create a test plan and subsequent exercises that can be performed by the business to ensure that the business continuity plan (BCP) works successfully. Update the BCP as needed based on the tests and exercises.

Promoting good understanding amongst staff

Reference documents

• The COVID-19 Pandemic Plan for the Victorian Health Sector

• Guidelines for health services and General Practitioners

Promoting good hygiene tips

• Ten ways to reduce your risk poster

• Handwashing, cough and sneezing poster

Testing and self-isolation

• Self assessment for risk of coronavirus flowchart

• National fact sheet on home isolation and care

• Travel restrictions

Safe workplaces

• Worksafe guidance on exposure to coronavirus in the workplace

Stay up to date at https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/coronavirus

Residential and other facility-based services

Development of protocols for• Infection prevention and outbreak identification and management – training and support for

staff

• Ongoing client care following cases and visitor access

• Escalation of care to other settings (hospital etc)

• Surge workforce to manage staff reductions and absenteeism (20-30%)

• Facility management and cleaning

• Finalising arrangements for seasonal flu vaccinations for residents, staff and volunteers

• Any health care needs that can be managed now

Support for vulnerable people, including in the community

Identify vulnerable groups and individuals • for example, isolated older people, people with disability/complex health

needs, families where schools and workplaces are closed

Consider the setting• Facility based care vs at home in the community

Ways to reach out to vulnerable people, subject to risk level• Visits, use of technology, social media, regular phone contacts

Forms of support• Contact to engage/check on welfare, food relief, assistance to access

Commonwealth payments, psychological first aid, care for children and others

Activating community support• Local social infrastructure (like neighbourhood houses), utilise existing social

connection networks, wider family networks

Social service sector leads

Key contacts for sectors Children and Families – Beth Allen – Director, Children and Families Policy Branch

Disability – James MacIsaac – Director, Disability

Housing and Homelessness – Sherri Brunihout – Director, Housing Pathways and Outcomes

SRS and other regulated service – Anthony Kolmus – A/Director, Human Services Regulator

Aged Care services and carers– Jackie Kearney – Director, Seniors Aging and Carers

Volunteering and local community services – Phil O’Meara – Director, Disabilities and Community Branch

HACC – Louise Galloway – Director, Performance and Improvement, Aged and Community Based Health Care and Cancer Services

Koorie – Paulleen Markwort – Director Aboriginal Strategy and Oversight Branch

Family Violence – Kelly Stanton – Executive Director, Family Safety Victoria

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DR BRETT SUTTONVictorian Chief Health Officer@VictorianCHO

COVID-19 in Context

The local experience of global threats

12 March 2019

Dr. Annaliese van Diemen

Deputy Chief Health Officer, Communicable Disease

Overall current infection rate (11 March)

Internationally: • 117,000+ confirmed cases

• 4,200 deaths

Of confirmed cases reported globally, the case fatality rate is approximately 3.6%.

The case fatality rate in countries and regions outside mainland China is approximately 3.1%.

Australia:• 112 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Australia (includes 3

deaths)

• 19 confirmed cases in Victoria.

• 4379 people have tested negative in Victoria

Collaboration and communication between countries

Johns Hopkins interactive real-time reporthttps://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

Travel history – all people tested Australia (10 March)

• China – 490 (21%)

• Indonesia – 356 (15%)

• Japan – 321 (14%)

• Thailand – 242 (10%)

• Singapore – 240 (10%)

• Hong Kong – 92 (4%)

Denominator is all people tested where travel history is known

• Italy – 85 (4%)

• Malaysia – 68 (3%)

• South Korea – 63 (3%)

• Philippines – 42 (2%)

• Cambodia – 28 (1%)

• Iran – 23 (1%)

How does COVID-19 compare to other epidemics?

Source: New York Times

R0

Epidemiological characteristics of historic outbreaks

1918 Flu SARS MERS COVID-19R0 1.4 – 2.8 2.2 <1.0 2.1 – 3.6%CFR >2.5% 11% ~45% 2.2 – 4.3%Incubation period

2-7 days 2-7 days 2-14 days 2-14

Number of deaths

15 million 774 858 ?

Lessons learned from SARS

• International travel allows for rapid spread between continents

– Restricting movement of citizens (China)

– Border restrictions

– Quarantine of returned travellers

• Importance of nosocomial spread and hospital infection control

– Large number of healthcare worker infections, particularly in critical care situations

– Aerosol generating procedures

Modelling potential scenarios

Current Victorian response

Departmental Incident Management Team formed

Clinical presentation of confirmed cases (10 March)

Infection ranges from asymptomatic or mild through to severe illness and death

Common symptoms:

• Fever – 11 (58%)

• Cough – 12 (68%)

• Sore throat – 5 (26%)

• Pneumonia – 2 (11%)

• Diarrhoea – 4 (21%)

Common clinical signs include the following:

• Pneumonia

• Lymphocytopenia

• Prolonged prothrombin time

• CT scans displaying lesions in multiple lung lobes and/or ground-glass opacity.

Definition COVID 19 – SUSPECTED CASE

A. If the patient satisfies both clinical and epidemiological criteria, they are classified as a suspected case:

• Clinical criteria: Fever OR Acute respiratory infection (for example, shortness of breath or cough) with or without fever

AND

• Epidemiological criteria: International travel in the 14 days before the onset of illness OR Close or casual contact in the 14 days before illness onset with a confirmed case of COVID-19.

B. If the patient has severe community-acquired pneumonia (critically ill) and no other cause is identified, with or without recent international travel, they are classified as a suspect case.

C. If the patient has moderate or severe community-acquired pneumonia (hospitalised) and is a healthcare worker, with or without international travel, they are classified as a suspect case.

Definition COVID 19 - CONFIRMED CASE

A person who tests positive to a validated SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid test or has the virus identified by electron microscopy or viral culture.

Notification Requirements• Proposal that notification to DHHS of suspected cases is not required

• Confirmed cases remain notifiable within 24 hours• Further information regarding notification requirements will be provided as they are developed.

Decrease the burden on health services, GPs and the department

Phone 1300651160, 24 hours a day

Pandemic plan for the Victorian Health Sector

COVID-19 Pandemic plan for the Victorian Health Sector Version 1.0 10th March 2020 Jenny Mikakos MP Minister for Health Minister for Ambulance Services

https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/about/publications/ResearchAndReports/covid-19-pandemic-plan-for-vic

Objectives :• Reduce the morbidity and mortality

associated with COVID-19.

• Slow the spread of COVID-19 in Victoria through rapid identification, isolation and cohorting of risk groups.

• Empower the Victorian community, health professionals and the community to ensure a proportionate and equitable response.

• Support containment strategies through accurate, timely and coordinated communication and community support.

• Mitigate and minimise impacts of the pandemic on the health system and broader community.

Pandemic plan - Victorian response

COVID-19 Hospital Preparedness Assessment /Scenario Testing Tools

• These documents have been developed to support Victorian hospitals (metropolitan, rural and private) plan their response to COVID-19

• They should be based on (and read in conjunction with) business continuity plans and pandemic plans

https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/health-services-and-general-practitioners-coronavirus-disease-covid-19

Chief Health Officer alerts

• The CHO will issue a daily email update from 11 March which will replace Alerts pertaining to COVID-19.

• A CHO Alert will only be issued if there is a significant critical clinical requirement.

• To receive Chief Health Officer alerts, subscribe at: https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/newsletters

Follow the Chief Health Officer on Twitter: twitter.com/VictorianCHO

Advice for clinicians

• Keep up to date with new information on the DHHS website

• Quick reference guide and checklist

• Guidelines for health services and general practitioners

• Current case definition

• Chief health officer alerts

• Hand hygiene

• Don’t go to work if you’re sick

https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/health-services-and-general-practitioners-coronavirus-disease-covid-19

Resources

DHHS COVID-19 page

https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/coronavirus

- Guideline for Health services

- Quick reference guide/Checklist

- PPE guidance

- Posters

- Factsheets for cases and contacts

Unit and organisation level planning

Think ahead about

• Essential vs non-essential activities

• Rostering

• When would you activate surge, and what would this mean

• How will you manage an outbreak in your unit/organisation?

• How will COVID affect your patient population?

• How your patient population might change

• Where are current or potential blockage points for patient flow?

• How to articulate with other health services? How might this change?

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JESSEMADDISONDirector, Industrial Relations, DHHS

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ARGIRI ALISANDRATOSDeputy Secretary,DHHS

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