Covid-19

COVID-19 vaccination

To keep our community as safe as possible from infection, we are constantly monitoring and implementing health authority guidelines.




Keep up to date with COVID-19 — Here 

Keeping our community safe


KEY MESSAGING - PUBLIC


• From 4 March 2024, recommended COVID-19 testing advice for household contacts is changing.


• If you are a household contact of a positive COVID-19 case and you do not have COVID-19 symptoms, you are no longer recommended to test daily with a rapid antigen test (RAT) for 5 days following a positive COVID-19 case in the household.


• If you are a household contact of a positive COVID-19 case and you develop one or more COVID-19 symptoms, you are recommended to stay at home and test for COVID-19 using a RAT. 


• If you test negative but your COVID-19 symptoms persist, continue to stay at home and take another RAT test in 24 and 48 hours.


• If at any point you test positive for COVID-19, it is recommended that you isolate for at least 5 days, even if you only have mild symptoms, starting at Day 0.


• This change in advice for household contacts aligns with broader public health guidance that advises RAT testing is generally not recommended when a person does not have any COVID-19 symptoms.


• When a person is symptomatic, the RAT result is more reliable.


SUPPORTING MESSANGING

 

• Testing for COVID-19 with RATs remains an important tool to help manage the spread of COVID-19, support eligible people to access antiviral medications and help to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on hospital admission rates.


• Anyone who develops COVID-19 symptoms is recommended to stay at home and test with a RAT.


• COVID-19 symptoms include: a runny nose, sore throat, cough, fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, headache, loss of smell or taste, shortness of breath.


• If you test positive for COVID-19, it is recommended that you isolate for at least 5 days, even if you only have mild symptoms, starting at Day 0.

This includes if you have had COVID-19 before.


  • Day 0 is the day symptoms started or when you first tested positive, whichever came first.


  • You should not go to work or school, and you should discuss any return to work or school with your employer or child’s school principal, as they may require      additional precautions.


  • For 10 days you should stay away from healthcare facilities, aged residential care facilities, or anyone at risk of getting seriously unwell with COVID-19. If you must

       visit, phone ahead and remember to wear a mask.


  •       Continue to report your RAT result at My Health Record (or call the RAT helpline on 0800 222 478). Reporting a positive result enables you to be connected with any help and support you may need.


  • Free RATs will continue to be available to the public until 30 June 2024.


  • To access free RATs, find a participating pharmacy or RAT collection site near you, at COVID-19 testing | Healthpoint.


  • If you live rurally, have a disability, are immunocompromised or experience some other difficulty accessing RATs, you may be eligible for additional help, including delivery if necessary. To find out if you are eligible, call 0800 222 478.


  • If you are concerned you are at risk of severe illness from COVID-19 and think you may be eligible for antiviral medicines, please contact your GP, pharmacist, healthcare provider or hauora provider to discuss. You do not need to wait until you have COVID-19 symptoms.


  • No decisions have been made regarding the supply of RATs beyond June 2024.


RECOMMENDED COVID-19 TESTING ADVICE

Symptomology

Symptomatic people

-

(includes symptomatic household contacts AND recovered cases if it is more than 29 days since the previous infection) 

 

General population 

If sick, stay at home, and test using a COVID-19 RAT if you have one available.

If RAT is negative, and COVID-19 symptoms persist, stay at home and repeat RAT in 24 and 48 hours*.

 


 Those that meet the Pharma anti-viral access criteria 


If sick, stay at home and test using a COVID-19 RAT.

If RAT is negative, and COVID-19 symptoms persist, stay at home, and repeat RAT in 24 and 48 hours**and consider a

PCR test where a result can influence treatment options.


 High risk facilities/settings****

Test using a RAT. 

If RAT is negative, and COVID-19 symptoms persist, repeat RAT in 24 and 48 hours**and consider a 

PCR test where a result can influence treatment options***. 

(for hospitalised positive PCR cases, refer samples for WGS) 

* If RAT is still negative after 24 and 48 hours and symptoms are getting worse or you are concerned, contact a healthcare provider or phone Healthline. If symptoms have resolved, or are mild or improving, you do not need to stay home.


** If RAT is still negative after 24 and 48 hours, healthcare providers should consider if further testing is required or an alternate diagnosis.


*** If PCR - recommend keeping isolated from other residents/patients whilst awaiting test results.


****High risk settings/facilities include Aged Residential Care and hospitals as these types of settings/facilities include groups of people who have frequent, close, or extended contact with others who have the potential for greater exposure to SARS-CoV-2.

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