Covid-19 Updates Residents

COVID-19 UPDATE: Alert Level 2 extension – Bay of Plenty & Waikato regions

Dear Residents and Family / Whānau of CHT Residents,

The Prime Minister has confirmed this afternoon that the Alert Level 2 restrictions will remain in place in the Bay of Plenty and Waikato regions for at least two more weeks.

As a reminder, visiting at Alert Level 2 is by appointment only to allow us to effectively manage infection control. If you, or anyone in your household is unwell, please do not visit the facility and instead continue virtual visits.

You are welcome to phone the Unit to book in your visit or use our easy new online booking system – https://bit.ly/CHTVisitorBookings. Our residents are really enjoying reconnecting with their loved ones in person so thank you for your co-operation to keep everyone safe during visits.

In line with keeping residents and staff safe, we also continue with our check in process and health check, physical distancing, mask wearing and hand hygiene during Alert Level 2.

Please feel free to contact the Unit Manager if you have any questions.

Kind regards,

Carriann Hall
Chief Executive
CHT Healthcare Trust

COVID-19 UPDATE: Alert Level 3 – Auckland CHT locations

Dear Family Member / Whānau of a Resident in a CHT Facility,

I am getting in touch with you to confirm the Prime Minister’s announcement today that the Auckland region will move down into Alert Level 3 on Wednesday 22 September for at least two weeks.

In an abundance of caution to protect the safety and health of our staff and residents, visiting remains suspended during Alert Level 3, with the exemption for residents who are receiving palliative or end of life care and with prior agreement from the Unit Manager.

We continue to vigilantly follow all advice from the Ministry of Health around precautions we need to take to keep our staff and residents safe, including social distancing, hand hygiene, wearing masks and gloves and extra cleaning.

Our team understands that this can be distressing to be apart from your loved one and I want to reassure you that we are taking the very best care we can of all our residents and keeping our spirits up thanks to our activities programme and video calls with families.

Should you have any questions, please contact the Unit Manager at your CHT Facility or take a look the FAQ section on our website.

Thank you again for your support.

Kind regards,

Carriann Hall
Chief Executive
CHT Healthcare Trust

COVID-19 UPDATE: Alert Level 2 extension – Bay of Plenty & Waikato regions

Dear Residents and Family / Whānau of CHT Residents,

I am reaching out to you following the Prime Minister’s announcement that the Alert Level 2 restrictions will continue for one more week. All CHT facilities in the Bay of Plenty and Waikato regions will therefore remain in Alert Level 2 until Wednesday 22 September.

Our residents are enjoying family and friends coming back to visit, and I am pleased to inform you that our visitation policy for Alert Level 2 has been updated to allow for more opportunities for you to visit your loved one. These changes will be introduced from Thursday 16 September.

UPDATED Alert Level 2 visitation policy – from Thursday 16 September:

At Alert Level 2, visiting will be by appointment only to allow us to effectively manage infection control. Please take a look over our updated visitation guidelines below.

⦁ Visiting times are available between:
⦁ Monday – Sunday: 9.45am-12.00pm & 1.00pm – 4.00pm
⦁ Tuesday & Thursday: 5.30pm – 7.00pm
⦁ Please note, we have a limited numbers of visitors per time slot
⦁ 45 minutes per visit, with one visitor per resident
⦁ Children under 12 years old, and extended visits for palliative residents, are at the Unit Manager’s discretion

Please phone the Unit to book your visit, or alternatively you can use our new online booking system – https://bit.ly/CHTVisitorBookings – to book in your visit.

Our infection control measures, including check in process and health check, physical distancing, mask wearing and hand hygiene will continue to help us keep residents as safe as possible. We also ask again that if you, or anyone in your household is unwell, please do not visit the facility and instead continue virtual visits.

Zoom video calls between residents and family members are very popular and we can easily facilitate these calls using the computer tablets at each Unit should you be unable to visit in person. Along with this letter we have provided you with some helpful step-by-step details for how to set up and make Zoom video calls. These can be easily made from a mobile phone and are much like a FaceTime or WhatsApp call, but with the added benefit that you do not need to have CHT tablet set up as a contact first.

DOWNLOAD Zoom guide

Please feel free to contact the Unit Manager if you have any questions.

Kind regards,

Carriann Hall
Chief Executive
CHT Healthcare Trust

COVID-19 UPDATE: Alert Level 4 extension – Auckland region

Dear Residents and Family / Whānau of CHT Residents,

I am reaching out to you following the Prime Minister’s announcement that the Alert Level 4 restrictions will continue for one more week in the Auckland region. All CHT facilities in Auckland will therefore remain in Alert Level 4 until Wednesday 22 September at this stage.

All CHT facilities will remain under full lockdown restrictions in Alert Level 4.

Our infection control measures, including twice-daily temperature and symptom checks for residents, appropriate PPE use by staff, physical distancing and hand hygiene, will continue as we work to keep residents as safe as possible.

Unfortunately, as you are aware, we have to tightly restrict visitors in Alert Level 4 and only situations where residents are receiving palliative or end of life care will be facilitated, with prior agreement from the Unit Manager.

I appreciate that it can be hard to be apart from your loved one during such restrictions. Zoom video calls between residents and family members are proving to be very popular for keeping in touch, and we can easily facilitate these calls using the computer tablets at each Unit.

Along with this letter we have provided you with some helpful step-by-step details for how to set up and make Zoom video calls. These can be easily made from a mobile phone and are much like a FaceTime or WhatsApp call, but with the added benefit that you do not need to have CHT tablet set up as a contact first.

DOWNLOAD Zoom guide

Please feel free to contact the Unit Manager if you have any questions and thank you again for your support and patience. We will continue to keep you informed as alert levels are reassessed.

Kind regards,

Carriann Hall
Chief Executive
CHT Healthcare Trust

COVID-19 UPDATE: Alert Level 2 – Bay of Plenty & Waikato regions

Dear Residents and Family / Whānau of CHT Residents,

From Wednesday 8 September, all CHT facilities in the Bay of Plenty and Waikato regions will move into Alert Level 2. We are looking forward to welcoming you back to visit your loved one and ask for your support to keep our residents and your loved ones safe through working with us on the following precautionary measures.

Visiting hours:
At Alert Level 2, visiting will be by appointment only to allow us to effectively manage infection control.

⦁ Please contact the Unit in advance to organise a visit within the current daily timeslots of 10.00am to 11.30am or 2.00pm to 3.30pm. We are looking at how we can facilitate some evening timeslots and online booking and will provide further information soon.
⦁ Any visits on compassionate grounds outside these times must be authorised by the Unit Manager.
⦁ Visits are limited to one person per resident during one timeslot and children under 12 years of age will not be able to visit unless the Unit Manager has authorised in advance.

Infection control:
If you, or anyone in your household is unwell, please do not visit the facility and instead continue virtual visits. This is the most important thing you can do to keep residents safe.

On arrival at the Unit please:

⦁ Check in using the tablet at the reception desk and also scan the Government QR code. This complies with the Government’s requirements and allows for fast contract tracing if there is a COVID-19 outbreak.
⦁ Complete the COVID-19 screening questions and a temperature check. If you do not meet health screening thresholds, it is not safe for you to visit and we will arrange a virtual visit.
⦁ In a change from the last Alert Level 2 lockdown, all visitors are required to wear a disposable surgical mask at all times, which will be provided to you on arrival. If you do not want to wear a disposable surgical mask, please advise the facility before arrival and we will arrange for a virtual visit.
⦁ Use the hand sanitiser supplied and stay at least 2 meters away from staff and other residents or visitors.
There is a low risk of transmission through surface contact and we ask that:
⦁ Any items brought into the facility should be packaged up, labelled with the resident’s name, and be able to be wiped down. We will not be able to pass on parcels if they are not properly packaged. You may bring flowers or small plants for your relative.
⦁ Residents’ personal laundry will still be washed by CHT and at this alert level cannot be taken home and returned.

Designated visitation areas:

You will be aware of the airborne infectious nature of the Delta variant and to help us minimise risk we ask that:

⦁ All visitors go directly to the resident’s room and remain there or in a designated area inside the facility or within the grounds. e.g. for smoking purposes.
⦁ At the end of the visit, visitors take the most direct route back to the entrance and not enter other parts of the facility.
⦁ Visitors may bring pets at the discretion of the Unit Manager. Pets will need to be restrained and confined to the resident’s room and not allowed to run freely within the facility.

You may be aware from recent media coverage that our Amberlea and St Margarets locations have each had one staff member who, having already been asked by CHT to self-isolate, subsequently tested positive for COVID-19.

I want to reassure you that in both instances, CHT responded quickly and cautiously and test results received so far at both locations have been negative for both residents and staff. We continue to follow the expert advice from Public Health and DHB teams.

Please feel free to contact the Unit Manager if you have any questions about our visitor policy or check-in policy, and thank you again for your support and well wishes during the past few weeks.

Carriann Hall
Chief Executive
CHT Healthcare Trust

COVID-19 UPDATE: Alert Level 3 – Bay of Plenty and Waikato CHT locations

Dear Family Member / Whanau of Resident in CHT Facility,

As you are the nominated key contact person, please share this important with others in your family and frequently check http://www.cht.co.nz/covid19-updates-residents/ for ongoing updates.

I am getting in touch with you to confirm the Prime Minister’s announcement today that the Bay of Plenty and Waikato regions will move down into Alert Level 3 on Wednesday 1 September for one week.

In an abundance of caution to protect the safety and health of our staff and residents, visiting remains suspended during Alert Level 3, with the exemption for residents who are receiving palliative or end of life care and with prior agreement from the Unit Manager.

We continue to vigilantly follow all advice from the Ministry of Health around precautions we need to take to keep our staff and residents safe, including social distancing, hand hygiene, wearing masks and gloves and extra cleaning.

Our team understands that this can be distressing to be apart from your loved one and I want to reassure you that we are taking the very best care we can of all our residents and keeping our spirits up thanks to our activities programme and video calls with families.

Should you have any questions, please contact the Unit Manager at your CHT Facility or take a look the FAQ section on our website.

Thank you again for your support.

Carriann Hall
Chief Executive
CHT Healthcare Trust