14 October 2020

Dear Resident

I am writing to advise you that today, Doutta Galla received advice that a Harmony Village Home staff member was notified that they visited a location in Shepparton on the same day as a person who tested positive to COVID-19.  This staff member is undertaking precautionary testing today.  As well, we have a further two staff and one resident from the Home who have also undertaken testing today as a precaution.

As you may be aware, COVID-19 is currently circulating in the Shepparton community, and there are a number of high-risk locations within the community, including the Market Place Medical Centre.  I strongly urge you or any family members or friends displaying any symptoms of COVID-19, even mild to get tested.

I want to reinforce that there is currently NOT a COVID-19 outbreak at Harmony Village, and no residents or staff have tested positive to COVID-19.

However, as we are determined to do all we can to keep the virus out of our Home, Doutta Galla is taking strong precautionary measures and has already activated its emergency response plan. This will stay in place until we can be totally confident the Home is not affected by COVID-19.

The Emergency response undertaken at Harmony Village includes:

• Staff wearing full Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) when attending to residents
• Residents remaining in their rooms to receive care and support
• All visitations to the residential Home will cease immediately

We have arranged for testing to be undertaken for staff and residents which will occur this Friday.  We have requested that the inclusion of ILU residents in the testing, however this has yet to be confirmed.  We will advise you tomorrow if we are able to include ILU residents in Friday’s testing.

Our Manager, Sandy Paily, and the staff at Harmony Village, are already well prepared if this virus enters the Home.  Staff have been trained to ensure the highest standard of infection control practices are in place.  In addition, senior infection control staff from Doutta Galla are already on their way from Melbourne to provide extra support the staff.  A precautionary deep clean of the Home will take place and we will continue with the existing enhanced cleaning protocols.

If you or your family would like independent support during this time, I encourage you to reach out to OPAN (Older Persons Advisory Network) on 1800 237 981.  They are available 6am-10pm, 7 days a week.  The other organisation that can assist you is Elder Rights Advocacy Victoria who can be reached on 1800 171 866 for support and advice.

We will keep you informed of any changes to the current situation, you are welcome to call Harmony Village on 5831 7921 to get further information.  If there are additional people who you would like to receive communications directly from me, please let the Home know their details and we can add them to the email list for you.  We have set up an email address where we are able to answer any questions, comments or concerns related to COVID-19 you may have.  The email address is covid19questions@dgas.org.au.

Thank you for your support during this challenging time.

Yours sincerely

Vanda Iaconese

CEO