Dear Community Members,
Aspergers Victoria Coronavirus Outline
The safety and health of our community are our number one priority at Aspergers Victoria. We are monitoring closely the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and have attended the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) briefing for organisations and so we are following some common-sense measures that are consistent with current guidelines issued by the DHHS.
At this moment we have had no reported cases of any of our staff, volunteers, members or related family members being exposed to the virus. All of our activities have been running as usual with more hygiene awareness.
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With DHHS we recommend we all focus on personal hygiene management and social distancing. Regular hand washing is currently the best hygiene approach with alcohol-based sanitisers as an alternative, avoiding touching your face unnecessarily, and using a tissue or your elbow for coughing or sneezing. Shaking hands is a part of life and is optional with clean hands - or use feet/elbows.
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In line with the DHHS guidelines we ask that anyone not feeling well, experiencing flu, cold and/or cough symptoms, do NOT attend groups, meetings and events, even if it is known not to be COVID-19. If you are taking pain medications such as panadol these can mask illness.
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We also ask you If you or your child has been exposed to this virus or if someone you live with is required to self-isolate, you must also self-isolate for 14 days. If you attend a group and later develop COVID-19 please let us know.
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If you have travelled recently we request you follow the government guidelines for travellers:
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Country:
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Upon arriving back from international travel:
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Higher Risk Countries
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We ask that you do not attend any AV groups or events for 14 days following arrival back into Australia for the countries classified as High Risk by both the Australian Government and World Health Organisation (WHO).(Based on the Australian Government list of countries of concern (www.health.gov.au/covid19-countries). This list will be updated periodically.
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All other countries
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We ask that you do not attend any AV groups or events for 7 days following arrival back into Australia for all other international travel
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Some of our Group Leaders, who are volunteers, may decide not to run their Group, and we will notify you if you have registered or on that Group email list. Some volunteers may also decide to hold other meetings online instead. We do have technology options we are investigating for our Groups and other meetings as an interim measure during any group closure but that may depend on suitability for our Leader and the Group.
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At this stage Power Neighbourhood House and other groups venues are open with the DHHS additional hygiene measures in place but may get a DHHS directive at some stage to close for a period of time and in that case our activities held there will be cancelled.
We also recommend avoiding reading or listening to news that causes you to feel anxious or distressed. It is also important to gather information from reliable sources such as the DHHS to help you distinguish facts from rumours. Continue healthy habits by engaging in physical exercise, keeping hydrated, eating healthy foods, getting adequate and consolidated sleep. DHHS has a thorough website outline of how to manage your hygiene plus virus information at: https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/victorian-public-coronavirus-disease-covid-19.
The situation is evolving and our position may change at short notice from DHHS. A significant change in position will be communicated to current members.
Thank you for respecting our imperative to minimise the risks within our community,. Please email me if you have any feedback about this. Here is one article about helping children manage the anxiety around this virus : How to talk to your child about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and one from Harvard Business Review for adults: Coping with coronavirus anxiety - Harvard Health Blog. Please stay well.
Tamsin Jowett, President Dated 13th March 2020
Here is the DHHS hygiene approaches poster:Ten ways to reduce your risk of coronavirus
