;

Workplace guidance for managing

suspected and confirmed cases
Updated: 23 March2021

Purpose
When employers become aware of suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19, they must act quickly to support
the health and safety of workers, contractors and visitors; limit further exposure, and contain any potential
outbreaks.
This document provides employers with guidance on what to do to fulfil their obligations when there is a confirmed
case in their workplace. This includes:
• directing the worker(s) to return home or isolate at the workplace until they can return home
• conducting a risk assessment
• closing part or all of the workplace
• comprehensively cleaning part or all of the workplace
• identifying and notifying close contacts
• working with the Victorian Department of Health to determine further actions.
The Department of Health will contact employers within 24 hours of notification of a confirmed case in the
workplace to support employers through this process.
By fulfilling your obligations as an employer, you help the Department of Health to identify close contacts, manage
confirmed cases and limit the spread of COVID-19.
Penalties may apply to employers who do not fulfill their obligations.

Confirmed case in workplace information pack

This document is part of the Confirmed case in workplace information pack. The pack contains all of the
documents and information required for employers to respond to confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 in the
workplace.
The pack includes:
1. Confirmed case checklist – a step-by-step approach for employers to fulfill their obligations. This
checklist will help employers to navigate the guidance and complete the templates listed below.
2. Employer notification form – to notify the Department of Health of a confirmed case.
3. Workplace risk assessment template – to inform the appropriate actions each workplace needs to take.
4. Close contact spreadsheet – to identify and record close contacts to help the Department of Health with
contact tracing.
5. Workplace guidance for managing suspected and confirmed cases (this document) – provides
detailed information to help you complete the checklist and templates listed above.
6. Posters and letter templates – to support businesses who need to close for deep cleaning.
The Confirmed case in workplace information pack can be viewed and downloaded on our website, along with
other information for workplaces <https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/confirmed-case-in-the-workplace-covid-19>.

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Background
Under the Workplace Directions, workers must notify their employer if they have been diagnosed with COVID-19
and have attended the workplace while infectious. This means workplaces may be aware of a confirmed case
linked to their workplace before the Department of Health has completed initial processes.
Workplaces may also be aware of a suspected case if a worker develops symptoms while at work or if the worker
tells their employer that they have developed symptoms and/or are waiting for a COVID-19 test result.
These obligations help to limit further potential exposure for workers, contractors and visitors and will help to
quickly contain any workplace outbreaks.
To read the Workplace Directions, visit Victoria’s restriction levels <https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/victorias-
restriction-levels-covid-19>.

Requirements for confirmed cases

A confirmed case is a person who has tested positive for COVID-19.
Workers must tell their employer as soon as possible if
• they have tested positive for COVID-19, and
• if they attended the workplace during their infectious period.
The infectious period begins 48 hours or 2 calendar days before a person’s symptoms first started. If a person
who tested positive has no symptoms, the infectious period is taken as 48 hours or 2 calendar days before their
test date.
As the employer, you must respond as soon as possible to keep workers and the workplace safe.
Your response must include the following actions:
• Support the worker to leave work immediately to go directly home and isolate. The worker should drive
themselves home by private transport where possible. If an existing close contact drives the confirmed case,
they should both wear a fitted face mask, the case should sit in the back seat, and wash or sanitise their hands
before and after being in the vehicle. They should not be driven by anyone who is not already a close contact,
and not travel by taxi, rideshare or public transport. If the confirmed case is unable to get home without
exposing others, they should call 1300 651 160 for non-emergency patient transport to be organised.
• If the worker is unable to leave work immediately, support them to isolate at work, preferably in a separate
room. They must wear a fitted face mask and remain at least 1.5 metres from others at all times.
• If possible, give the worker the What to do if you've tested positive COVID-19 factsheet (Word)
<https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/what-do-if-youve-tested-positive-coronavirus-covid-19-english-accessible-doc>.
This factsheet is available in over 50 languages at Translated resources – COVID-19
<https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/translated-resources-coronavirus-disease-covid-19>.
• Complete the Employer COVID-19 notification form and return it to the Department of Health by emailing
covidemployernotifications@dhhs.vic.gov.au. If the Department of Health has not contacted you within 24 hours
of you sending the notification please call 1300 651 160.
• Tell all workers to watch out for symptoms of COVID-19 and get tested and self-isolate if symptoms develop.
• Use the Confirmed case of COVID-19 in workplace checklist to make sure you fulfil all your obligations.
• Do a Workplace risk assessment to inform closure and cleaning requirements.
• Identify workplace close contacts and complete the Close contact spreadsheet to support the Department of
Health contact tracing.
• Notify workplace close contacts to quarantine at home for at least 14 days. The Department of Health will also
contact close contacts to tell them about what they need to do, offer support as well as tell them when they can
stop quarantining.

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• Deep clean the workplace, in whole or part, based on the risk assessment.
• Notify WorkSafe and other relevant industry bodies.
• Submit the Workplace risk assessment and Close contact spreadsheet to the Department of Health by emailing
covidemployernotifications@dhhs.vic.gov.au.
• Comply with any further instructions given by the Department of Health or WorkSafe.
If your workplace closes, you must only reopen when:
• all obligations under the directions have been fulfilled, and
• the Department of Health authorises you to reopen.

Requirements for suspected cases

A suspected case is when a person has symptoms that may be due to COVID-19 but without another
diagnosis that explains the symptoms. Symptoms include fever, chills or sweats, cough, sore throat, shortness of
breath, runny nose, and loss or change in sense of smell or taste.

A single suspected case

When there is a single suspected case at a workplace your response must include the following actions:
• Support the worker to leave work to get tested and go directly home. They must isolate until they receive a
negative result and should also stay at home until they no longer have symptoms. They must also continue to
stay home if the Department of Health has told them to. If the result is positive, they must continue to isolate and
wait to hear from the Department of Health.
– When leaving work, the worker must wear a fitted face mask. They should travel by private transport where
possible, or by taxi or rideshare if necessary. They should not travel by public transport.
– If being driven by another person, the worker should wear a fitted face mask, sit in the back seat, and wash
or sanitise their hands before and after being in the vehicle. The worker should tell driver they feel unwell and
note the taxi driver’s name and identification number.
• If the worker is unable to leave work immediately, support them to isolate at work, preferably in a separate
room. They must wear a face mask and remain at least 1.5 metres from others at all times.
• If the suspected case was at the workplace during their infectious period (48 hours before symptoms started), it
is possible that they were infectious while at work. You must take all practical steps to manage the risks posed
by the suspected case, such as:
– ensure cleaning of the workplace, in particular any areas in the work premises frequently used by the worker
and high-touch surfaces (such as door handles).
– tell all workers to watch out for symptoms of COVID-19 and get tested and isolate if symptoms develop.
– ensure your records of workers and visitors to the premises are in good order to support contact tracing, if
necessary.
You do not need to vacate the site (in part or whole) or undertake a risk assessment if there are only one or two
suspected cases within a five-day period, unless the Department of Health tells you to.

Multiple suspected cases

When there are three or more workers with symptoms within a five-day period, you must complete a Workplace risk
assessment. You do not need to notify the Department of Health or identify or inform close contacts at this point.
This is only necessary if there is a confirmed case.
• Workers with symptoms of COVID-19 must be supported to get tested and isolate at home until they receive a
negative test result.
• If they test positive, they must continue to isolate and wait to hear from the Department of Health.
• Even with a negative result, they should stay at home until they feel better. They must also continue to stay
home if the Department of Health has told them to.

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You only need to notify the Department of Health if there is a confirmed case who attended your workplace during
their infectious period.
The infectious period begins 48 hours or 2 calendar days before a person’s symptoms first started. If a person
who tested positive has no symptoms, the infectious period is taken as 48 hours or 2 calendar days before their
test date.

Conducting a risk assessment

A workplace risk assessment supports decision-making by employers and the Department of Health if there is a
confirmed case or multiple suspected cases of COVID-19 in a workplace. Please use the Workplace risk
assessment (Word) template.

You must complete a risk assessment for each identified suspected or confirmed case.

When is a risk assessment mandatory?

As an employer, you must do a risk assessment within 48 hours after you become aware of:
• a confirmed case who attended work during their infectious period
You do not need to do a risk assessment for one or two suspected cases within a five-day period.

Who should complete the risk assessment?

Each workplace will have their own Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) systems and procedures in place. The
person doing the risk assessment may be health and safety personnel, the CEO/Managing Director, office
manager, or line manager depending on the organisation.

What is involved in doing a risk assessment?

In doing the risk assessment, you must consider:

• the extent to which the worker has had contact with other workers, contractors, visitors or customers during their
infectious period
• how essential it is to continue operations until the risk is managed
• the extent to which workers, contractors, visitors or customers would need to use areas of the worksite the
worker had been in.
To do this, you will need to collect details from the affected worker(s), including the date symptoms started and the
dates, locations and details of their movements in the workplace during their infectious period (see Workplace risk
assessment).
The information collected as part of the risk assessment must be stored securely and provided to the Department
of Health as soon as possible – within 48 hours – by emailing covidemployernotifications@dhhs.vic.gov.au.

Workplace closure
You should use the information gathered in the Workplace risk assessment to determine which parts of the
workplace need to be vacated for cleaning and disinfection while you wait for further guidance from the Department
of Health.
Possible actions include:
• full closure (whole site vacated)
• partial closure (part of site vacated)
• continue operations as usual, after seeking advice and authorisation from the Department of Health and
completing all steps in the Confirmed case of COVID-19 in the workplace checklist.
Unless it is unreasonable to do so, you must:

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• vacate all areas used or likely to have been used by the suspected or confirmed case for cleaning and
disinfection while you wait for further guidance from the Department of Health
• ensure that any parts of the workplace that remain open do not pose an ongoing risk of transmission to other
workers, visitors or contractors who visit the site.
If this cannot be achieved, or if the suspected or confirmed case has accessed multiple areas across the site that
cannot be effectively and safely vacated for cleaning and disinfection, you must vacate the whole site until further
assessment by the Department of Health.

Cleaning and disinfection

Advice on cleaning is available at:
• Cleaning and disinfecting to reduce COVID-19 transmission (Word) <https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/cleaning-and-
disinfecting-reduce-covid-19-transmission-tips-non-healthcare-settings>
• Preventing infection in the workplace <https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/preventing-infection-workplace-covid-
19#how-to-clean-and-disinfect-after-a-covid-19-case-in-the-workplace>.

If you have a confirmed case of COVID-19 at your workplace, the Department of Health will support you through
the risk assessment process and answer questions about cleaning, or the full or partial closure of your business.

Close contacts
Once the risk assessment is done, and the workplace (in part or whole) closed and vacated, you must identify and
notify workplace close contacts of the person with COVID-19. This section provides guidance on how to do this.
You are only required to identify and notify contacts associated with the worker’s attendance at work. The
Department of Health will support you in doing this and review the information you provide.
The Department of Health will also contact trace and identify other close contacts of the confirmed case (for
example, family and personal close contacts).

Close contact definition

Close contact means:
• having face-to-face contact, or being within 1.5 metres of a person with COVID-19
• sharing a closed space for more than a total of one hour during their infectious period.
The infectious period is from 48 hours or 2 calendar days before symptoms start (or, if no symptoms, 48 hours or 2
calendar days before they were tested).
The department may require other people who don’t necessarily meet the above definitions to quarantine following
a risk assessment of each situation.

Exceptions
People wearing face masks or other personal protective equipment (PPE) are still considered 'close contacts' if
they meet the close contact definition, except in healthcare settings (where additional infection prevention control
precautions apply).
In some circumstances, such as in higher-risk settings and where there is evidence of transmission, the
Department of Health may expand the criteria of a close contact for an individual workplace (for example, everyone
working the same shift as the case may be classified as close contacts even if they do not meet the above
definition). This will be determined by the Department of Health on a case-by-case basis.

How to identify close contacts

Determine which workers, contractors, visitors or other people at the workplace may have had close contact with
the case during their infectious period. This may involve checking rosters, time sheets, sign-in sheets and visitors’

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logs. You should also consider their contact with others during work, before and after work, and to and from work.
For example, a shared office, crossover between shifts, taking the same lunchbreak or carpooling.
Collecting this information assists the Department of Health with contact tracing. The Department of Health will
review the information you provide and use it to assist with contact tracing.
Workplaces are required to keep an attendance register (Word) to assist this process
<https://www.business.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/word_doc/0006/1920723/COVID-workplace-attendance-
register.docx>.
Record the name, contact details and other information of all close contacts in as much detail as possible in the
Close contacts spreadsheet (Excel) <https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/covid-19-close-contacts-spreadsheet-victorian-
workplaces-xls>.

Notifying close contacts

To help the Department of Health with contact tracing, contact everyone on your close contacts spreadsheet and
notify them that:
• they are a close contact of a confirmed case.
• they must quarantine until the Department of Health tells them to stop
• the Department of Health will contact them, usually via SMS text message.
Also ask them to provide any missing information for the Close contact spreadsheet
The Department of Health will get in touch with all close contacts to explain what they need to do, offer help, and
stay in touch throughout their quarantine period.
You must not disclose the identity of the person with the confirmed case to other workers unless the person
has given you permission to do so.
The 14-day minimum quarantine (stay at home) period starts from the day of a close contact’s last contact with the
confirmed case.
• Workers should get tested if they develop symptoms or if the Department of Health tells them to.
• All close contacts are usually tested early in their quarantine period as well as towards the end of it.
• Close contacts must have a negative result on or after day 13 of quarantine to be able to leave quarantine after
day 14, even if they are feeling well. To keep the community safe, if they do not get a day 13 test, they must
quarantine for an extra 14 days or until they receive a negative test result.
If possible, you should call close contacts to notify them that they are a close contact. If this is not possible, send an
SMS message. You can use the SMS template below to help you in your conversation or text message.
It is important to notify close contacts as soon as possible to ensure they quarantine
<https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/what-do-if-you-are-close-contact>.
You should support close contacts to quarantine and ensure they do not come to work.

SMS template
You have been assessed as a close contact of a confirmed case of COVID-19 through your attendance at [insert
name of worksite/business]. You are required to quarantine for at least 14 days from [insert date]. The Victorian
Department of Health will contact you to confirm the details of your quarantine period and provide you with further
information. You must strictly stay at home and must not go to work during this time. You should get tested when
asked to by the Department of Health as well as on or after 13 days from [insert same date as above]. Get tested
immediately if you develop symptoms that might be COVID-19. Please see the Department of Health close
contacts factsheet.
Please give the Department of Health close contact factsheet to workers if possible. See What to do if you have
been in close contact with someone with COVID-19 (Word) <https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/what-do-if-you-have-
been-close-contact-someone-coronavirus-covid-19-doc>.

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This factsheet is available in over 50 languages at Translated resources – COVID-19
<https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/translated-resources-coronavirus-disease-covid-19>.

Re-opening
After reviewing your initial response, the Department of Health will work with you to determine what steps to take
next, such as when it is safe to reopen (if you were instructed to close the worksite). This may involve putting in
place additional health and safety measures to minimise the risk of further spread of COVID-19. The Department of
Health will provide final approval of when the workplace can reopen.
Workplaces can generally reopen once:
• WorkSafe has been notified of the confirmed case of COVID-19
• all workplace close contacts have been identified, notified and are quarantining
• the workplace has been deep cleaned
• appropriate measures are in place to minimise further spread
• workers who are not close contacts or confirmed cases are available to return to work
• the Department of Health has authorised the reopening, usually by a telephone conversation and email.
Workers who are close contacts can return to work when they have:
• completed at least 14-days quarantine
• no symptoms of COVID-19
• been tested on day 11 or after of their quarantine period
• returned a negative test result
• been cleared to leave quarantine by the Department of Health.
Workers who are confirmed cases can return to work when:
• they have been released from isolation, and
• received a clearance letter from the Department of Health.
A worker who is a confirmed case may still not feel well enough to return to work after they have been cleared from
isolation. They may need to talk to their GP for a medical certificate if they need extra time for recovery.

More information
You can call the Department of Health on 1300 651 160 if you have any questions. If you need a translator first call
131 450.
Information on public health directions applying to employers is available at:
• Creating a COVIDSafe workplace <https://www.business.vic.gov.au/disputes-disasters-and-succession-
planning/covid-safe-business/creating-a-covid-safe-workplace>
• Confirmed case in the workplace <https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/confirmed-case-in-the-workplace-covid-19>.
You can also refer to the following guidance:
• Preventing infection in the workplace <https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/preventing-infection-workplace-covid-19>
• Preparing for a case of COVID-19 in your workplace (Word)
<https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/202007/preparing-for-a-case-of-covid-19-in%20your-
workplace-guidance-covid-19.docx>
• Cleaning and disinfecting to reduce COVID-19 transmission (Word) <https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/cleaning-and-
disinfecting-reduce-covid-19-transmission-tips-non-healthcare-settings>
• WorkSafe: Managing COVID-19 risks – face masks in workplaces <https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/managing-
coronavirus-covid-19-risks-face-coverings-workplaces>
• WorkSafe: Other relevant industry specific guidance <https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/coronavirus-covid-19>.

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To receive this document in another format phone 1300 651 160 using the National Relay
Service 13 36 77 if required, or email <covidemployernotifications@dhhs.vic.gov.au>.
Authorised and published by the Victorian Government, 1 Treasury Place, Melbourne.
© State of Victoria, Australia, Department of Health, 23 March 2021.
Available at: DHHS.vic – COVID-19 <https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/coronavirus>.

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