Making simchas safer
Hatzolah is letting the community know it can attend functions or offer rapid testing at its Caulfield North HQ for guests, allowing celebrations to go ahead.
HATZOLAH is making simchas safer with its rapid testing service.
The Jewish first response organisation is letting the community know it can attend functions or offer rapid testing at its Caulfield North HQ for guests, allowing celebrations to go ahead without attendees fearing for their health.
General manager Leon Landau told The AJN, “When RA tests became available, we began testing patients on emergency calls for the safety of our responders, ambulance crews and ultimately the welfare of our patients. We tested vulnerable people in their homes, especially those who were too unwell to wait for hours in long testing queues and were inundated with requests so we started testing daily at Hatzolah for the general public. The best part was, there were no queues.”
For event testing, Hatzolah can set up a tent on location and rapid test guests upon arrival. The first response organisation does not cut corners when it comes to safety, only testing in full personal protective equipment, and giving out information brochures to those who test positive. Landau told The AJN that there have been positive tests at every event they have attended, therefore they have undeniably stopped outbreaks with this service and helped slow the spread of COVID.
Despite rapid antigen tests being primarily an indication and not 100 per cent accurate, they can still offer peace of mind.
Hatzolah wanted to be able to reach the wider community and offer this service to organisations and not just individuals, Landau told The AJN.
“We expanded the service to working with schools, camps and crèches over the summer to minimise the risk of COVID outbreaks. To provide this service to the community, we have had to purchase all the tests at a significant cost to the organisation.”
hatzolah.org.au
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