Travellers and accommodation operators will benefit from on-site temperature testing over the school holidays, with infrared thermometers being distributed across the state to help keep Victorians safe.

About 4,800 thermometers are on their way to holiday locations as part of the Victorian Government’s efforts to slow the spread of coronavirus. In addition, coronavirus testing clinics will be established at popular destinations on the Great Ocean Road and in the Alps: Lorne, Apollo Bay, Falls Creek, Mount Hotham and Mount Buller.

Accommodation providers with communal facilities and with an expected increase in school holiday visitation, including caravan parks, will be given priority access to thermometers.

The initiative will allow accommodation providers to take a guest’s temperature on check-in, allowing the businesses and their staff to operate with the knowledge that guests are not presenting with a fever, which is one of the symptoms of coronavirus.

The themometers, which are listed on the Australian Register of Theraputic Goods (ARTG), are being provided to local councils for distribution from today, with a focus on the High Country, the Alps and the Great Ocean Road.

The Victorian Chief Health Officer has advised Victorians that they may travel within the state these school holidays, as long as they are healthy. Anyone presenting with symptoms of coronavirus, even if they are mild, must stay home and get tested.

Accommodation providers are encouraged to contact their guests 24 hours before arrival to ask them to complete a self-assessment for coronavirus symptoms before they depart. An interactive self-assessment is available on the Department of Health and Human Services website.

As all Victorians with symptoms are being asked to stay home, accommodation providers may ask guests displaying symptoms on arrival to return to their home, if possible.

If this is not possible, and if the guest is booked to stay in a room with others not from their usual household, alternative self-contained accommodation should be sought. For further information on symptoms and testing, go to dhhs.vic.gov.au/getting-tested-coronavirus-covid-19 or call the coronavirus hotline on 1800 675 398.