Essential in-home services to elderly residents will continue throughout the coronavirus pandemic, according to City of Ballarat.
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Director Community Development Neville Ivy said City of Ballarat remained 'fully committed' to providing the essential services, but the frequency of visits to elderly residents to complete house cleaning would be reduced.
"Due to COVID-19 the City of Ballarat has prioritised its resources to providing a suite of care support for the most vulnerable in our community," he said.
"As a result, the in-home domestic assistance component of this service (house cleaning) has been moved from fortnightly to monthly.
"This includes tasks such as vacuuming, cleaning wet areas and a general tidy up."
Meals on Wheels, personal care hygiene, medication prompting, shopping from a list and assistance with rubbish bins would continue as an essential service, a council statement said.
Mr Ivy said these services were provided to all eligible residents.
"All residents in our program are being contacted by phone one-to-one to have the changes explained to them," he said.
One elderly resident told The Courier they had been confused about what services would be continuing because they had not received a call from City of Ballarat staff, so they made a phone call to inquire last week.
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Another resident said they were concerned for their elderly relatives who relied on withdrawing cash to pay provide to City of Ballarat support staff for grocery shopping.
They said they were unsure how elderly people would make payments during the coronavirus pandemic without going to the bank to withdraw cash.
More than 2800 people are registered with City of Ballarat's Active Ageing program.
City of Ballarat directed any in-home clients who have questions, or whose circumstances may have changed, to contact the Active Ageing Intake worker on 5320 5636.
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Rochelle Kirkham
Rochelle covers court and has a particular interest in social issues including homelessness, food security and family violence.
Rochelle covers court and has a particular interest in social issues including homelessness, food security and family violence.
