By Kathy Bazan, BRC Consultant
According to an article published July 17 in the The Oregonian:
For the third week in a row, cases of COVID-19 that could not be traced back to a known infection source are driving an increase in Oregon’s coronavirus caseload.
On Thursday, the state recorded its highest single-day case count in history: 437.—Celina Tebor, “Sporadic COVID-19 cases drive spike in Oregon for three weeks straight” (https://www.oregonlive.com/coronavirus/2020/07/sporadic-covid-19-cases-drive-spike-in-oregon-for-three-weeks-straight.html)
Since joining the BRC on June 15, I participated in several webinars including one by Oregon OSHA. Here is some of the information I gathered.
If you or one of your employees is feeling under the weather, get tested.
• Do NOT return to work—even if it is to tell them that you are waiting at home for your test results. That’s why Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone—so we could call work!
• After your test, do NOT go to the market to stock up on food. There are friends, family, and even paid shopping services which can bring you food (and TP). Do NOT stop at the bank, walk in, pull out cash from your account, and then walk around touching every surface in the bank. (This happened at a local branch.)
• Do NOT get multiple tests done.
• Do NOT go to another doctor or healthcare provider. If you are ill, there is no reason to expose more people to the illness.
• Go home and stay home.
• Do NOT invite company over to socialize.
• Stay home until your get a NEGATIVE test result OR you have been isolated at home for 14 days.
• (It can take up to 10 days to get your test results.)
• Everyone who lives with you at your home must stay home too.
• Before you go back to work, see your doctor or healthcare provider. Get a “Return to Work” note for your employer. (Your employer may need to handle you as an infected person even though you have negative test results. By assigning your tasks which limit your contact with the public, it’s safer for all.)
• IF at any time, you have trouble breathing or chest pains, call 911 or seek out your closest Emergency Room.
At the Business Recovery Centers, we are holding a good thought that we all will come safely through this storm.