Thursday 19 August 2021
Good afternoon,
Following today’s NSW Government announcement, the whole of NSW will remain under lockdown (stay-at-home) orders for a further seven days i.e. until 28 August 2021.
However, this revised end date is not guaranteed with the current state-wide lockdown remaining in place until the NSW Government changes this order.
In response to this extension, I would like to remind all our Mercy Connect family of the following actions / restrictions (that have been in place over the past week), and will continue indefinitely until further notice.
Day Program and Accommodation Services:
- All Mercy Connect Day Programs, across all sites, remain closed.
- Mercy Connect owned / managed homes remain closed to the public.
- This includes, but is not limited to, family members / carers, external contractors and suppliers. Exceptions to this directive will be at the sole discretion of the CEO Office and Executive Leader – Clinical Services.
- Participants are not permitted to attend any external Day Program facilities / activities during this time, with Day Program activities only to be offered within the Mercy Connect owned / operated home.
- Participants of shared (group) homes may individually travel outside (with only one Mercy Connect staff member), whilst maintaining social distancing practices / wearing a mask (unless a mask exemption applies), only for the following ‘essential’ reasons shopping for essential items, medical care, and outdoor exercise.
- Individual participants living in single accommodation may travel outside (with only one Mercy Connect staff member or one participant’s family member), whilst maintaining social distancing practices / wearing a mask (unless a mask exemption applies), only for the following ‘essential’ reasons shopping for essential items, medical care, and outdoor exercise.
Corporate and Central West Offices:
- Albury (St John’s / Thurgoona) and Orange (Illamatta Way) offices remain closed to the public. This includes, but is not limited to, participants, family members / carers, external contractors and suppliers. Exceptions to this directive will be at the sole discretion of the CEO Office. Until further notice, all external approved visitors must complete the Mercy Connect ‘COVID Declaration’ form prior to entering our premises. All completed forms must be provided to Debbie White at reception@mercyconnect.org.au
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) / Face Masks
A reminder, that all staff (and any approved external visitors) are required to wear facemasks and other appropriate PPE indoors and at all times when with participants. You may only remove your mask for the following reasons:
- Eating or drinking.
- Working alone in an office (until another person enters).
- You have a documented evidence of a medical exemption to not wear a mask.
QR Code
All staff (and approved external visitors) must continue checking-in using the Service NSW QR scan, which is located at all Mercy Connect locations.
Staff and Participant Wellbeing
If you or know someone that is struggling through these difficult COVID-19 times please utilise the resources below:
Whilst this remains a challenging time for our participants and staff, I kindly ask everyone within the Mercy Connect family to continue to follow the rules and regulations, which are in place for the safety of participants, staff and our wider community.
Together we grow.
Trent Dean
Chief Executive Officer
Mercy Connect