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Good morning,
I would like to ask if anybody has any statistics on how many positive RATS are picked up at the door on entry to the home.
With the free supply ending in April homes are trying to decide how often they need to RAT test staff and visitors.
Is it really a benefit to have them test on entry or can we just treat COVID as we do Influenza, RSV etc.?
Thoughts on what other homes are doing would be appreciated.
Any statistical data would be appreciated.
Dear Yvonne,
Please see a couple of papers that address RAT use and efficiency in residential aged care – note they are dated 2021.
The National COVID-19 Health and Research Advisory Committee provided advice on RAT in various settings.
https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2022/03/foi-3589-release-documents-austender-contracts-cn3818911-and-cn3806974-evaluation-of-the-rapid-antigen-testing-pilot-in-residential-aged-care-facilities-final-report.pdfThe Australian Government Department of Health undertook a pilot study – Evaluation of the rapid antigen testing pilot in residential aged care facilities: final report
https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2022/03/foi-3589-release-documents-austender-contracts-cn3818911-and-cn3806974-evaluation-of-the-rapid-antigen-testing-pilot-in-residential-aged-care-facilities-final-report.pdfRefer to national and state guidelines for RAT requirements, this may help to make your decision on need. It is left to the individual facility to decide but should be risk based and in accordance with COVID 19 transmission in the area – routine testing is not required.
From local perspectives:
ACT Government:
Rapid antigen tests (RATs) for residential aged care facility workers
https://www.covid19.act.gov.au/services-and-support/aged-care/rapid-antigen-tests-rats-for-residential-aged-care-facility-workers
Advice for visitors to aged care facilities
https://www.covid19.act.gov.au/services-and-support/aged-care/advice-for-visitors-to-aged-care-facilitiesNSW Government: Advice to residential aged care facilities (RACFs)
See Testing staff for COVID-19 and Visitors sections.
https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/covid-19/Pages/racf-latest-advice.aspxKind regards Carrie
ACIPC
ACIPC IPC Consultant
HobartHi Yvonne,
I do not have any statistics, but this should be based on a risk assessment as part of the pre-entry screening process for workers and visitors. RAT testing like all other preventative measures should be scaled based on the community risk level. E.g. during periods of high- risk RATs could be done daily and when risk levels are low, every 72 hours or less based on a risk-based approach.
The same would apply for wearing surgical / P2/N95 masks.Kind regards
MarlizeHi Marlize,
It’s frustrating that the government puts it back on the aged care provider. How do they know what is in the local community? There is decreasing statistics/data for us to go on. Victoria has just backed off to a fortnightly report instead of a weekly one. What are services supposed to base their risk assessment on?Thanks Kelly. The absence of concrete guidance is frustrating. We are still undertaking 3rd daily RAT for staff, and on entry, for visitors to Aged Care. I am looking to reducing the frequency of testing to symptomatic staff only, with the proviso that a negative COVID RAT does not mean staff should attend work.
Visitors who attend daily have been allowed to reduce the frequency of testing to 3rd daily, but ad hoc visitors still undertake RAT on site each visit. I’d love some direction about how we manage visitor testing once the Government funded RATs cease.
I have also obtained a quote for the triple capability RATs at $5.80 each which is a considerable saving on PCR costs and allow for rapid response to the causative organism. We are likely to implement these for our Acute and UCC patients as well for the same reason. Obviously Respiratory PCR has the capacity to detect other pathogens, but in a small facility, such as ours, the fast turnaround is really useful.Just to follow up on this, apologies for the large gap in response.
Now we have passed April and have to purchase our own RATS and there is an increase in disease again I would be interested in knowing what other homes are doing.
At present we have ceased surveillance testing and are just doing the following:
Anyone with symptoms testing – if negative RAT then PCR is done.
We have stopped RAT testing visitors unless it is high in the community (we can only tell this by staff getting COVID)
If an exposure in a resident, then daily testing of staff and visitors for a minimum week and surgical masks for all staff
If no residents positive, but more than 5 staff call in sick with COVID-19 then we introduce daily RAT and wearing of surgical masks again.
If an outbreak occurs, we daily test and N95 for the area of the outbreak, surgical masks for the rest of the home.
Are people still wearing Face Shields?I would love to know who you got the quote from for the triple capability RATS we have a couple of homes that struggle to get PCR’s done. I can’t ask you direct as you posted anonymously so hope whoever wrote that sees this.
I would also like to know how people get information on levels in the Community.
We don’t have to report RATS anymore and the NSW data from the government is always at least 2 weeks behind. I get a report from one PHU that gives a summary of all of NSW but not sure where they get the data.Hi everyone. Sorry my last post was anonymous. We have implemented the use of the Triple Capability RATs across both Acute and Aged Care. We only use them for symptomatic presentations and would provide kits to staff in the event of an Aged Care respiratory outbreak. We would then begin testing of all staff and residents.
Staff and GPs have shown great acceptance and confidence in their use and the GPs have been able to initiate treatment much sooner. We have detected RSV and Influenza as well as Covid, which has meant staff know what precautions to implement. At this stage we are not testing all visitors but may do so if the numbers start increasing again. Our Local Public Health Unit gives us monthly numbers, but this is not quite as useful after the effect.
The cost savings on PCRs is yet to be determined, but I suspect our pathology bills will go down. We still use a PCR for symptomatic residents/ patients if the RAT is negative, but at least this has reduced the need to undertake swabs and wait for the result. As a small rural health service, this can be >24 hours.
The brand we purchased are the TouchBio brand. There are 2 in a packet for $5.80 – but we had to purchase a whole carton (448 kits) to get that price.
Fortunately, I could share with another regional aged care facility, so we could get half a box.
I am happy if anyone wants to talk to me personally for a private email.Michele Bibby
Hi All,
The new Communicable Diseases Network Australia. National Outbreak Management Guideline for Acute Respiratory Infection (including COVID-19, influenza and RSV) in Residential Aged Care Homes. Version 2.0 June 2024 may be of assistance as discusses the use of the 3 viruses testing RATS (COVID, Influenza, RSV) for symptomatic residents and staff,
Kind regards Carrie
