The ACT and Commonwealth governments are in talks about the possibility of setting up an aged care joint response centre similar to that in place in Victoria, if it were to be needed in the territory.
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While there are no cases of COVID-19 in the ACT, the government says it is working with facilities to strengthen infection prevention and control practices.
Under the government's plans, a COVID-19 outbreak response would be triggered at a facility " by a single case of COVID-19 in a resident, staff member or frequent visitor".
Aged care will be one of the items at the top of the agenda at the national cabinet on Friday, and the Aged Care Minister will front up to a parliamentary inquiry examining the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr will be part of conversations among state and territory leaders that look at the level of preparedness in the sector across the country.
After a week of harrowing evidence about the effect of COVID-19 on aged care facilities at the aged care royal commission, the government committed to an audit of state and territory aged care emergency response capabilities as part of the plan.
The royal commission also heard evidence of a lack of clarity around communication and responsibility in outbreaks in aged care centres, but ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said her government has been working closely with facilities for months to prepare for potential outbreaks.
"ACT Health would take a lead role in any local outbreak response in the residential aged care sector, in collaboration with the facility," she said.
"Decisions on how to manage any outbreak response would be made by ACT Health, in consultation with affected facilities and other key stakeholders, on a case-by-case basis."
Another eight deaths in Victoria were linked to the aged care system on Thursday, and more than a thousand cases are linked to the sector across the country.
Peak bodies in the sector have called for state and territory governments to introduce policies to automatically transfer aged care residents who test positive to COVID-19 to hospital, in a bid to both treat the patient appropriately and protect other residents from infection.
An ACT Health spokeswoman said the territory will follow national guidelines on hospital transfers and that in the event of a case in the aged care sector in Canberra, decisions would be made based on the resident's clinical need, the facility's ability to safely isolate them and the resident and their family's wishes.
"There is no one policy that will suit all residents of all aged care facilities," the spokeswoman said.
"Therefore, decision-making regarding transfer to hospital will be made on a case-by-case basis. In each case, the resident's doctor would use clinical expertise to determine whether care in a residential aged care facility is appropriate, whether the resident may benefit from transfer to hospital, and will also consider the wishes of the resident and their family."
A doctor could recommend transferring a resident to hospital to managed the outbreak, the spokeswoman said.
The territory government has been watching outbreaks in states like NSW and Victoria, which have informed the plans and policies in place.
"The plans developed to date are living documents and are informed and amended as new information becomes available," the directorate said.
"These continue to be updated as new learnings are identified from other jurisdictions."
Sally Whyte
I report on a range of issues in federal politics and the public service, with a real passion for how decisions made in Canberra affect the lives of Australians.
I report on a range of issues in federal politics and the public service, with a real passion for how decisions made in Canberra affect the lives of Australians.
