AGED care residents have been allowed to leave their rooms after a COVID-19 scare locked them down for an entire week.
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Heath authorities have given Benetas St Laurence Court residents the nod to begin circulating after on new cases were detected over five days.
The home went into lockdown on Thursday last week after a resident tested positive to COVID-19.
The resident is thought to have caught the virus after they left the home to attend a family Christmas party.
One of the resident's granddaughters tested positive in the days following the party, prompting Benetas staff to administer a rapid antigen test at the home on Thursday.
The home went into lockdown immediately after the test results were known and some residents are understood to have been in the middle of lunch when they were told to move into their rooms.
Benetas chief executive Sandra Hills has now confirmed the immediate danger of a larger outbreak has now passed.
"The home is still considered an outbreak until all resident PCR test results from 4th January are returned negative," she said.
"Given the delays in receiving test results at the moment, it is likely we will not receive a Stand Down notification until early next week."
Benetas is still testing all employees as they arrive at the home using RAT kits, Ms Hills said.
"[They have] proven an invaluable measure in helping to protect the residents and employees at the home," she said.
The Victorian government on Friday began urging people who returned positive RAT to log them on the Department of Health's website. A hotline was also opened.
The changes came during an ongoing shift to living with COVID-19 and the Omicon variant, COVID commander Jeroen Weimar said.
"That will put you in the same process as anybody who returns a positive PCR," he said.
"What it will mean is that we will be able to give you ongoing updates and check in with you and your condition."
Greater Bendigo is recording skyrocketing COVID-19 cases, including a record 113 for the period covering Thursday.
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