There’s been plenty of tips to help people protect themselves from coronavirus. However, we haven’t seen a lot of coronavirus prevention tips for businesses. As a business owner or manager, your facility is your pride and joy. You work hard to make sure operations run smoothly, that all areas are clean and safe, and that every person who enters, customers and employees alike, has a pleasant experience.
But if coronavirus found its way into your gym, restaurant, hotel, school, warehouse, or office, everything you’ve worked so hard for could be destroyed. Your reputation, your bottom line, and the health and safety of your employees and customers. The virus is no joke. So far, it’s infected and killed thousands of people and has shut down entire states and countries.
Coronavirus has stealthily crept its way into many facilities including police stations, nursing homes, fulfillment centers, and others. Since our mission is to prevent infection, reduce sickness and help save and preserve lives, 2XL is here to provide some coronavirus prevention tips for businesses and facilities to keep COVID-19 out.
CLOSE OR SHUTDOWN TEMPORARILY
One of the best coronavirus prevention tips for businesses is to close or shut down temporarily. While ceasing operations, sending employees home, and putting up a “Closed” sign for the next several weeks may seem drastic, it is the most effective – which is why it’s first on our list. Many U.S. states and other countries have issued shelter in place and stay at home orders. They have also forced all non-essential businesses to close immediately.
Closing your facility while COVID-19 continues to wildly spread through communities helps to eliminate the risk of the virus entering your business. What makes coronavirus so dangerous is the fact that a person who is infected may not know it. Also, symptoms, if they appear, can take up to 14 days to show. This means that someone can unknowingly have coronavirus while visiting your facility and put hundreds of other people at risk including employees and other customers.
DEEP CLEAN WHILE YOU’RE CLOSED
While closed, complete an intense, thorough deep cleaning of your facility or hire a cleaning agency to do it for you. Proper deep cleaning requires more than light tidying such as dusting and sweeping. It includes the meticulous disinfection of every surface, big and small. Focus your attention on everything from door handles to oven knobs, computer keyboards, sink handles, elevator buttons, and more. When you reopen, you can be assured that your business is clean, and, most importantly, safe.
LIMIT THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO VISIT
If your business is still operating as normal, you may want to enforce a cap or restriction on the number of people who can visit your facility at one time. As things have become more intense during the fight against COVID-19, gatherings of 10 or more people have been banned. Limiting the number of people in your business keeps you in compliance with local and state orders while helping to minimize the chance of coronavirus getting in via an infected person.
You can place signs on entrance doors, send emails, and post to social media to communicate new rules in place to inform customers of changes. Make sure everyone is following social distancing and practicing handwashing rules by doing the following:
– Placing stands throughout your facility with signs as reminders
– Having all-in-one wipes and hand sanitizer dispensers placed in high traffic areas
– Putting markers on floors
DISINFECT CONSTANTLY
Since coronavirus can live on a surface for several hours and even days, you’ll need to disinfect consistently to be sure the virus doesn’t remain on surfaces. This means you’ll need to disinfect high touch surfaces several times a day. You can use a disinfectant wipe or liquid disinfectant EPA registered to eradicate coronavirus on surfaces.
It’s important to note that sanitizers will not kill coronavirus. This is because sanitizers only remove some germs, not all of them. Also, sanitizers do not kill specific pathogens the way that disinfectants do. No surface or item should be left behind. Disinfect everything including bags, packages, rails, floors and more. Doing this allows you to play a crucial role in helping to flatten the curve.
SCREEN PEOPLE UPON ENTRY
Screening or monitoring people upon entry is another coronavirus prevention tip for businesses. Though it may seem bizarre, something as simple as checking temperatures or checking for symptoms can be major in keeping COVID-19 from invading your facility. Many hospitals and medical offices have begun to implement this to keep uninfected staff and patients safe.
If you can clearly see that someone is showing signs of having the virus, you can protect yourself, your business, and your customers and employees by keeping them out. Things to watch for include the following:
– Fever
– Cough
– Runny nose
– Difficulty breathing
IT’S HARD, BUT NOT COMPLETELY IMPOSSIBLE TO KEEP CORONAVIRUS OUT
While coronavirus has proved difficult to control, there are plenty of coronavirus prevention tips for businesses and facilities. Your greatest measure of protection boils down to disinfection, alertness, and taking action immediately. These tips, while unconventional and different from what we’re used to, can make a big difference.
We get it – we’re in an unpredictable and volatile time right now and we’re adapting to constant change. But embracing new methods and processes will help keep your facility safe.
Want to read more about COVID-19? Read our other COVID-19 pieces as part of our series:
Simple Coronavirus Protection Tips
How Coronavirus Spreads
How To Kill Coronavirus on Porous and Non-Porous Surfaces in 5 Steps
What is Coronavirus?
How Long Can Coronavirus Live On Surfaces?
How To Promote Handwashing In Your Facility
5 Coronavirus Myths Debunked