Update on COVID-19 from the CEO of Bupa ANZ

Our community is facing an unprecedented public health situation.

The challenge posed by coronavirus (COVID-19) is evolving rapidly, as are the protocols provided by government and other public authorities. That’s why Bupa is taking decisive action to help protect our people, our customers and our aged care residents at this difficult time.

We have taken particularly strong action in our aged care homes as the elderly are often more susceptible to infections. We have strong outbreak prevention measures already in place in our care homes and have introduced new sign-in processes, hygiene reminders, infection control refresher training for our staff. We are also implementing changes to visitor arrangements.

Across our dental practices, optical & hearing stores, medical visa assessment centres, and health insurance retail stores, we have strong infection control measures in place to protect both our customers and our employees.

In our corporate offices, we have encouraged all office-based employees to work from home. Whilst there are some exceptions to this approach, such as our customer contact centres and key technology support roles, we’re doing our best to make sure the work environment is as safe as possible by minimising hot desking, introducing additional cleaning services, and ensuring social distancing protocols are observed.

We have also introduced additional special leave provisions for full-time, part-time and casual employees to access up to two weeks’ of COVID-19 paid discretionary leave, depending on their individual circumstances.

I realise this is an uncertain and unsettling period for everyone. Bupa is committed to ensuring that our priorities are the safety and well-being of our people, our aged care residents and our customers, while continuing to provide health and care services to the more than five million Australians who rely on us every day.