Things to Do if Someone at Work Tested Positive for the Coronavirus
Despite months of battling the coronavirus, it has only grown worse. It’s already spread around the world, and several countries are still dealing with it. Apart from a massive health crisis, it also leads to economic crisis. Businesses were forced to close since there’s a need to avoid mass gathering in closed spaces. Some offices have hundreds of workers gathering in the same building. Hence, the virus could spread more easily.
To protect your employees, you try to observe safety guidelines. You can alternate the days for certain employees to go to the office. You can also have a mask mandate to anyone entering the building. Hand washing stations should be available throughout the establishment. These safety measures could reduce the possibility of someone getting infected.
However, despite your safety protocols, someone could still end up getting infected. If you knew that one or more employees have tested positive for the virus, these are the things you need to do.
Request everyone not to go to the office
Call all your employees and let them know about the situation. Be honest that someone tested positive, and anyone who came in close contact could be infected. Even if they haven’t, but they were in the building, they should quarantine for 14 days. Request them to get tested too. The measure might be overzealous, but it’s the right thing to do. You also have to think about the family members of your employees who could get exposed if they failed to act immediately.
Request for deep cleaning
Ask someone to provide deep cleaning services on the office. You have to wait for 24 hours after knowing someone got tested before requesting for this service. It guarantees that viruses on the surfaces touched have already died. Make sure you choose a professional cleaning company that has the right protective equipment for the cleaners.
Guarantee the employees that they won’t have a pay cut
It’s difficult to ask your employees to work from home or not work at all if they know it will affect their salary. They would rather take the risk and go to work so they’ll get paid than stay home to quarantine. Giving them an assurance of a complete salary helps in this regard. You should also inform everyone about the insurance coverage they might have as a benefit of being an employee of your company. They will feel more confident to go to the hospital if they know they don’t have to foot the bills.
It’s a test
Asking your employees to stay home and quarantine for several days could paralyze the business. Given the severe impact this pandemic had on your company for the last months, you don’t want to further pause your operations. However, if it’s necessary, you have no choice. It’s a test of your strength as a business owner. Hopefully, you can recover and avoid a potential closure.
Photo Attribution:
1st and featured image from https://unsplash.com/photos/7okkFhxrxNw
2nd image from https://www.cleanlink.com/news/article/Cleaning-Company-Explains-Procedure-It-Uses-Against-Coronavirus–25401
