Sovereign Lives Victoria & COVID-19

The Government announcement on new measures implemented to help combat the spread of coronavirus, we wanted to ensure you were aware that In-home Aged Care and Disability Support are recognised as ESSENTIAL SERVICES for the community.

COVID-19 outbreak is twenty first century’s one of the major threats for entire human race. It may not be a concern for the younger generation but it can be fatal for older people and those who have existing health conditions or disabilities. Sovereign Lives Victoria is taking all necessary precautions to ensure the safety of our clients, their families and our staff as well.

Therefore, we have made some changes in our services and instructed our staff to help us stop the spread of the virus while providing continuous care and support to our clients and their families during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Following are the protective measures that we are taking. We expect you to go through the information below and spread awareness within your family, neighbourhood and community.

Infection Prevention Training

We have asked all our staff, colleagues and support people to complete the following mandatory trainings in order to continue providing support services.

Mandatory Infection Control Training

An online training module by Australian Government Department of Health is available on infection control for care workers across all sectors in preparing for COVID–19:

How to protect yourself and the people you are caring for from infection with COVID-19. Click here

Disability Training

Free eLearning module by Disability Services Consulting(DSC) for supporting people to help them preventing and controlling infection. Click here

Other Safety Guidelines For Support Providers And Receivers

We advice both our clients and staff to follow some basic precautions while interacting with each other even if no one is unwell or shows symptoms of COVID-19. They must follow infection prevention control measure which includes:

Covering mouth with your elbow or tissue paper while coughing or sneezing(dispose of the tissue immediately and avoid using hands to cover your mouth).
Regularly washing your hands with soap or hand wash.
Maintaining a distance of at least 3ft or 1.5m wherever possible.

We also emphasise to clean and sanitise the surfaces people touch, like elevator/stair railings, door handles, chairs, tables, etc.

Also consider the 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene. This approach recommends health-care workers to clean their hands

before touching a patient,
before clean/aseptic procedures,
after body fluid exposure/risk,
after touching a patient, and
after touching patient surroundings.

If client or any of his family member exhibits symptoms

immediately stop all the support services and suggest the person to self isolate.
Call Coronavirus Health Information Line (1800 020 080) or if symptoms are severe, call 000.
Inform and alert the family.
If the person is NDIS participant, contact his/her registered provider or support coordinator.
Inform Sovereign Lives Victoria on phone 048 120 4786 or email info@sovereignlivesvictoria.com.au.
Self isolate yourself too and contact Coronavirus Health Information Line (1800 020 080) to get priority COVID-19 testing.

WHO recommended basic protective measures against the new coronavirus

Wash your hands frequently
Regularly and thoroughly clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water.

Maintain social distancing
Maintain at least 1 metre (3 feet) distance between yourself and anyone who is coughing or sneezing.

Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth

Practice respiratory hygiene
Make sure you, and the people around you, follow good respiratory hygiene. This means covering your mouth and nose with your bent elbow or tissue when you cough or sneeze. Then dispose of the used tissue immediately.

If you have fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical care early
Stay home if you feel unwell. If you have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical attention and call in advance. Follow the directions of your local health authority.