Outbreak cleaning management is the responsibility of the nominated person overseeing cleaning duties, i.e., the facility manager, the care manager, the RN, or the IPC lead.  They will notify and manage the cleaning employees in an outbreak. 

Outbreak Management

During an outbreak, increased cleaning frequency and ongoing cleaning efficiency need to be monitored

Inline with the residential aged care facility cleaning policy, only approved cleaning chemicals are to be used; neutral detergent and hospital-grade disinfectant should be readily available; sodium hypochlorite may also need to be used, although only according to guidelines

Detergent and disinfectant wipes must also be made available

Appropriate colour-coded cleaning equipment (yellow) is available

Cleaning schedules should include the frequent cleaning of frequently touched surfaces, such as door handles, taps, handrails, technical aids, buzzers, switches, devices, and other high-touch surfaces

Cleaning equipment, such as cloths, should preferably be disposable 

Reusable equipment is cleaned and laundered according to the required cleaning and laundry standards

Limited essential equipment and furniture should be placed within the affected rooms or areas during an outbreak

Depending on the infection, special consideration needs to be made for cleaning soft furnishings and carpets

Allocation of separate employees cleaning infectious rooms and/or areas from the rest of the residential aged care facility

If unable to source different cleaning employees, then rooms of non-infected residents should be cleaned first, and then isolation rooms should be attended to last

Once the outbreak has been declared over, infected rooms or areas to be cleared, and terminal cleaning should be completed 

Employees assigned to cleaning duties should not have access to the kitchen during an outbreak

PPE must be worn by cleaning employees appropriate to the outbreak 

Stock Management 

Ensure there is enough stock of PPE

Ensure there is enough cleaning stock

Ensure there are enough hazardous yellow bags and hazardous waste disposal bins available 

Ensure there are enough cleaners in an outbreak to fulfill tasks

Ensure appropriate systems are in place to clean shared equipment and reusable PPE

Ensure enough signage is available

When Cleaning Should Be Increased