Acute respiratory infections

This page provides guidance, resources and tools to support the prevention, identification and management of acute respiratory infections (ARIs) including COVID-19 in healthcare settings across NSW.

Infection Prevention and Control Manual for ARIs

This manual sets out infection prevention and control (IPC) requirements for managing patients with an ARI. It is designed for staff working in acute and non-acute settings.

Download the manual (PDF 2.1 MB)

Chapter downloads

1. Introduction to the manual (PDF 359.3 KB)
2. IPC strategies for ARIs including COVID-19 (PDF 644.8 KB)
3. NSW IPC response and escalation framework (PDF 723.1 KB)
   1. Risk matrix summary table (PDF 239.8 KB)
   2. Yellow alert poster (PDF 93.6 KB)
   3. Amber alert poster (PDF 93.6 KB)
   4. Red alert poster (PDF 93.1 KB)
4. Personal protective equipment (PDF 488.1 KB)
5. Specific healthcare settings (PDF 241.8 KB)

Seasonal and operational guidance

• IPC guidelines for management and assessment of ARI (PDF 246.5 KB) — Updated each year to support clinical practice through the winter season.
• Winter strategy: testing and infection prevention and control for ARIs (PDF 359.3 KB) — Guides testing and IPC measures for managing ARI during the winter season.
• Managing patients or visitors exposed to an ARI (PDF 252.6 KB)—Sets out risk assessment matrices for managing patient or visitor exposures to ARI including COVID-19.
• Managing health worker exposures and return to work (PDF 431.6 KB— Supports management of workplace exposures and return-to-work decisions for health workers with an ARI including COVID-19.

Education and training videos

These videos cover fit testing, donning and doffing, respirator fit checking, and precaution-specific sequences. Watch these videos on our education and training videos page or via My Health Learning.