NSW Health recommends the best way to protect yourself is with good hygiene, including:

• Making sure to clean your hands thoroughly for at least 20 seconds with soap and water, or an alcohol-based hand rub
• cover your nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing with a tissue or a flexed elbow
• avoid close contact with anyone with cold or flu-like symptoms.
• Practice ‘social distancing’, which means keeping a space between you and other people of 1.5m.
• If you develop flu-like symptoms, self-isolate and get tested. A Covid-19 Drive Through Testing Clinic is now operating in Bressington Park. The clinic is open 7 days a week from 8:30am – 3:30pm.

NSW Health provides up-to-date resources to help navigate seniors through the Covid-19 pandemic.

Click here for regular updates with advice for older people.

Click here for information on how to get a referral to speak with someone about the types of services you can access.

Click here for information on why its still ok to have health care in the home.

Hotline for vulnerable people

Are you elderly, disabled, isolated or otherwise vulnerable? Council has set up a hotline to assist those in the community requiring special help. This is NOT a medical hotline, your best source for medical information is still NSW Health. The Council hotline is to ensure those in our community who require special assistance are not forgotten. Call 9748 9939 Monday-Friday 8.30am – 5pm.

If you are unable to get through immediately, please leave a message with your return phone number to enable a call back.

Neighbour2Neighbour Program

The Neighbour2Neighbour Program (non-medical) connects vulnerable residents with neighbours who are in a position to help.

Read more and register here.

Mental Health

The Government is providing additional funding to support the mental health and well-being of all Australians. If you feel you are experiencing concerns due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), there are two organisations providing support services:

• Lifeline
• Beyond Blue

Disability Information Helpline

Have your disability services changed because of COVID-19? The Disability Information Helpline can help – call 1800 643 787. The Helpline is available Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm (AEST) and Saturday and Sunday 9am to 7pm (AEST). Click below for information, including Auslan and Easy Read materials. More information.

Council has had to make the tough decision to cancel a number of events in line with the requirements of the Federal Government. This includes Movies in the Park, Anzac Day, Cooks River Fun Run and regular programs such as aged day care and line dancing. Check the Events Calendar to see if your event or program is going ahead before arriving.

To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, Council facilities and sports fields have reopened with restrictions. Further information relating to booking sports fields is available here.

Strathfield Library and Innovation Hub opened on Wednesday 1 July. In the interest of public health and safety, conditions of entry apply to all visitors.

Council Rangers are enforcing strict hygiene measures in town centres in order to protect the community.

As of Monday 15 June, Strathfield Council’s Customer Service Centre is open for face-to-face assistance on Monday – Friday from 10am – 4pm.

Customer Service staff will still be available on the phone on 9748 9999.

Additionally, we are cleaning commonly touched surfaces every 2 hours and are hand sanitiser stations are available at all touch points.

We encourage customers who have any flu-like symptoms to consider completing your Council transactions online, or by calling 9748 9999.

Council is working with the community in a number of ways to ease financial burdens at this time, including free of charge inspections of food premises. Anyone experiencing financial hardship in regards to transactions with Council, are encouraged to call Council to discuss options best suited to your situation, on 9748 9999.

Waste Collection services are running as usual. Residents are reminded to only place your bins out for collection the night before, and to retrieve them off the street as soon as possible after collection.

Residents who allow their bins to overflow will be cautioned, and fines may apply if the practice continues.

Until further notice, the Strathfield Connector is running on a reduced timetable, arriving at bus stops every 60 minutes, between 7am – 7pm.

Extra hygiene measures have been implemented including the availability of hand sanitiser and the sanitisation of surfaces every 2 hours.

Police are there to support the safety and wellbeing of the whole community at this time of the Coronavirus pandemic. Any breaches will be considered serious and responded to and acted upon by police. There are several new rules that apply.

These rules are about many things such as social distancing, going out of the home for non-essential reasons, quarantining or isolating yourself if you have come into Australia from overseas and following personal hygiene.

Police have the power to issue a penalty infringement notice, or an on the spot fine, if a person is not doing what the new laws and Ministerial directions require. This is a fine of $1,000.00 for individuals or $5,000.00 for businesses.

To know more visit:  nsw.gov.au/covid-19.

Stay Home Stay Safe

The best sources for up-to-date information are the Federal Government and NSW Health.

The healthdirect Symptom Checker asks questions to determine whether you should be tested for COVID-19.

The Federal Government has also set up a hotline for people wanting information  – 1800 020 080 operates 24 hours, 7 days a week.

For dedicated coronavirus testing collection centre locations in NSW, please click here.

Translated resources including Chinese and Korean can be found here.

SBS has launched a multi-lingual portal for information about COVID-19 (coronavirus) which can be accessed here.