Be Prepared, Not Scared

It is Cold, Flu, and COVID season. Initial symptoms are similar for all there. At some point this winter you will have someone sick that appears to have COVID symptoms. Is it Cold, Flu, or COVID?

The good news is that testing for COVID has increased so you can get results quickly, usually the next business day. That’s important for keeping your business open. So how do you know what to do before you know what it is?

If you have a team member with symptoms or was exposed to someone who tested positive, assume you have a COVID exposure issue.

Conduct Your Own Contact Trace – The CDC standard of close contact is 15 minutes or more, six feet or less. You’ll need to know first if your exposed employee meets that standard with the person, they were near.  Second, you’ll need to work with them to determine who they were around that would meet the standard. The CDC says you’re contagious for 48 hours before showing symptoms. Create the timeline and list of close contacts.

Order a Test – Ask your exposed employee to take a test. Community testing is free, and results are coming back quickly. If the results are negative, you are good. Until you know, proceed as if the person in question has positive results.

Notify – After you have determined your close contact list and potential other exposures, notify them. Do they believe they had close contact with the potential COVID employee? If so, do they have symptoms? If none, isolate until test results return. If there are symptoms, isolate and test.

What about Family – Family members of “close contact” employees don’t need to isolate or test. They are considered incidental contact since they weren’t close to the symptomatic or exposed person.

Decontamination – Total Facility Care uses a six-step process for decontamination after COVID or other highly infectious disease exposures in our clients’ buildings. Our process is approved by the Global Bio-Risk Advisory Council.

1. Pre-assessment
2. Pre-Disinfect
3. Load Reduction
4. Forensic Clean
5. Professional Disinfection
6. Post Assessment

Communicate – Communicate the issue, potential severity, and what steps you’re taking to ensure the workplace is safe. This may include the need to communicate externally to customers if they have exposure risk.

Help your cleaning company out. We can control costs if you know when the person was in your building and exactly where they were in the building. Decontamination is the most expensive compared to deep cleaning or touchpoint cleaning. The pre-assessment and your need to reopen for business will determine the level needed to return your building to safety.

Our team is honored to serve on the frontlines during the pandemic.  We are glad to share what we have learned with you so you can safely keep your building open. There are many more helpful tips on dealing with COVID-19  on our website.