Wednesday, 12:30pm
Today is the last day visitors can enter Mackellar Care Services' aged care facilities.
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The two campuses on Marquis and Apex roads will be closed to the public after 2pm because of the risk of coronavirus.
"We have made the decision to close both sites to access to visitors in line with what is happening around the country," chief executive officer Wayne Snelson said.
"This will be coming into effect as of this afternoon."
Tuesday
The closure of Mackellar Care Services to the public is a matter of "not if, but when it will happen", Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Wayne Snelson says.
Mr Snelson said he was staying abreast of government decisions and health advice about the COVID-19 pandemic so rapid changes can be made at the aged care facility's two campuses.
Last week, Mackellar Care introduced a limit of two visitors per resident per day, and from Wednesday, March 25, Mr Snelson said all visitors would be required to undertake a temperature test before they are allowed to get past reception.
"Anyone displaying a temperature over 38 degree celsius will not be able to come in," he said.
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Visitors will also be asked a series of questions and have to use hand sanitiser.
"We've disabled the keypads to help limit people on site and so we know who's on site at any time," Mr Snelson said.
Volunteer services are suspended and group activities inside and outside the campuses are on hold.
"What we're trying to do is limit the foot traffic within the building and I know it is distressing for residents and families, but at the end of the day, the health and well-being of residents comes first," Mr Snelson said.
The CEO said visitors had been "quite proactive" in ringing Mackellar Care with concerns to ensure "they're not making the wrong decision" by coming into the facilities.
"I know a lot of large national aged care providers have already started [closing to the public]. It's not if, but when it will happen," he said.
There are more than 100 residents and more than 140 staff at the two campuses so communication with both has become key, especially to address "misinformation in public forums".
What we're trying to do is limit the foot traffic within the building.
- Wayne Snelson, Mackellar Care Services
Mr Snelson said staff were also being "uptrained" in infection control and getting clinical updates from Mackellar's clinical director.
"The workload has increased. Our cleaning staff are doing what we call deep cleaning in public areas twice a day to ensure nothing is on hard surfaces," he said.
Mr Snelson said the aged care facility would continue to employ locals and may be on the look-out for more staff in the coming months.
"We understand lot of people have lost jobs because of the closures of pubs, cafes etc, and we will be looking for expressions of interest," he said.
"The likelihood of a virus coming into Gunnedah is the same as anywhere else so we need a big pool of healthy workers."