RetireAustralia Coronavirus update: 25 March 2020

Published: 25 March 2020

Last night the Government announced additional restrictions on activities and venues which will have an impact on our communities.

For a full list of what is closed, open and restricted, see here.

Here’s an update on what these new measures mean for our communities.

1) Access to community centres and facilities

To try and slow the spread of COVID-19 our community centres and facilities have been temporarily closed for all social and lifestyle activities. This applies, regardless of whether village staff are present or not.

If residents would like to access the community centre for any other reason, please call ahead to arrange this with staff. We are required to limit access to one person/ couple at a time.

We are also required to limit access to hairdressing salons in those communities that have them. Appointments are now limited to a maximum of 30 minutes only and 1 person for every 4 square metres will be allowed in the salon.

2) Cancellation of sales appointments

After Friday 27 March, sales appointments and village tours in our communities will temporarily cease. Instead, we will be offering virtual viewings of villas, units or apartments through FaceTime, Skype or an alternative technology solution.

3) Non-essential visits and trips

You might be aware that the Prime Minister has repeatedly urged all Australians to stay at home except for essential outings, including work, grocery shopping, and medical appointments and supplies.

State and territory governments are making it an offence to breach these social distancing and self-isolation measures.

It is important that we all comply with this and do everything we can to protect each other and our community from the coronavirus.

We need residents and their families and friends to please:

Limit visits and outings to what essential:
- Personal/ home care
- Delivery of food, medication and essential supplies
- Compassionate reasons.
Discourage children under 16 from visiting.
Ensure visits are conducted in a residence or outdoors, rather than community areas.
Practise social distancing where possible, including maintaining a distance of 1.5 metres.

We will also be introducing a sign-in procedure to better manage village access in line with these requirements. This includes asking visitors if their visit is essential and requesting they complete a health declaration form. This form makes it clear that visitors are not welcome if they are unwell or required to be in self-isolation. It also provides a register to assist health authorities trace people who might be subsequently exposed to COVID-19.

We will provide a further update on the new sign-in procedures in the coming days.

Further changes

We are reviewing everything we are doing each day to make sure we are protecting our communities from coronavirus.

If there are further directives from government or there is an outbreak in one of our villages, we would need to introduce additional measures.

This could include:

Only allowing essential visits and requesting they be organised in advance by calling the Village Manager.
No visits to all or parts of a village or villages.

Mental and physical wellbeing

We understand that the current situation can be isolating and overwhelming. We encourage you to stay connected in other ways. Call, email, Skype, FaceTime and use social media.

In our next update we’ll share tips on how to keep connected during this time. As well as some more information on a complementary wellness check-in we are offering independent living residents and an update on accessing groceries.

If you have any questions, please call your Village Manager. We will continue to update you regularly as the situation develops.