COVID- 19

Each day brings new challenges and changes to our ever-changing environment. Due to the current rise in cases and the possible second wave of the COVID-19 virus the Committee of Governance has been consulting with a range of organisations for guidance – Victorian Government Health Officer, Neighbourhood Houses Victoria, DHHS, and the City of Greater Dandenong Council guidelines to assist us with our decision making.

We have met and after a great deal of discussion and assessing the risk to staff, volunteers, and community members, the decision has been made to delay our re-opening and now with the lockdown restrictions being put into place our new re-opening date will be delayed once
again. We will keep you updated as we advised on changes in the restrictions coming into place at midnight on the 8th of July, 2020. These restrictions will be in place for the next 6
weeks.

The Committee has not made this decision lightly and it has been based on keeping everyone safe. We are keen to get everyone back as soon as possible. We were on track to re-open on the 13th July 2020 with staff working hard putting together a re-opening plan, that outlines everything that needs to be in place for the doors to open
again.

Some of the things that the staff has been working on include:
- New wall sanitisers to be installed in each room and toilets.
- Sanitisation stations being set up at the opening of each building.
- Measuring rooms to work out how people can fit into our spaces ensuring we abide by the social distancing regulations.
- Removing excess furniture from rooms.
- Social distancing guides on the floors to assist everyone follow the rules.
- Developing an induction program for groups to attend as they return.
- Development of a 3 Phase return to ensure everyone can return safely.
- New sign in app is being set up at the entrance to each building to gather records of
who is in the building.
- Signage as reminders to wash hands and hygiene to follow in each of our rooms.
- Complete clean done between our day and afternoon/evening sessions.
- Each returning group will need to elect a COVID-19 Officer who will be the liaison between your group and the office staff. This will be explained in more depth at the induction session prior to your return.
- New programs are being developed.

Phase 1 will include 1 group in each space during the day and then there will be a break to allow for a clean to be done prior to the afternoon/evening sessions coming in. You will find
that some groups will need to be in another room due to the social distancing regulations so please be patient. We will all need to work together to get us all back safely.

We will keep you updated as things change, if these current restrictions change then we will adjust our return date and advise you of a date

Be patient, this is important for us all to comply with the lockdowns that will be in place to ensure we can return to some form of normal as quickly as is possible.

Stay home, we all know the rules, keep your families safe, and let’s stop the spread of this virus.

We look forward to seeing everyone when you return.

NPCC Governance Committee

Updated: Thursday 9th July 2020, 10:01am