What should do if confirm or suspect case of covid detected in company?
Employers and business leaders around the world are all scrambling to solidify their business plans and organise their teams amid the COVID-19 outbreak. This task is made even more daunting by the widespread implementation of remote working as a means to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. On top of all this, leaders must also prepare for the worse-case scenario; that of receiving the call from an employee who says they have tested positive for COVID-19.
Such a situation can be stressful and presents a complex challenge. Leaders must be sensitive and humane while also being quick to act as a manager. Regardless of whether workers are working from home or are continuing to commute to work, leaders must possess emotional intelligence and the ability to take decisive action.
If someone at the workplace is a suspect case
If an employer is aware that someone at the workplace is a suspect case, the employer could remind staff to:
- Monitor their health, including doing temperature checks at least twice daily
- Adopt good personal hygiene
- See a doctor immediately if they are unwell, and inform their supervisors or the HR department immediately. They should stay at home on sick leave even if they feel that their symptoms are mild.
If someone at the workplace is a confirmed case
- If someone at the workplace is a confirmed case, MOH’s contact tracing officers will engage the employer to identify any persons at the workplace, including business associates, who may have had close contacts with the confirmed case. Employers should cooperate with the contact tracing officers and provide them with the necessary assistance and support. MOH’s contact tracing officers will assess who among such persons should be placed on quarantine.
- Upon being notified of the confirmed case, employers should also adopt the following precautionary measures:
- Immediately vacate and cordon-off the immediate section of the workplace premises where the confirmed case worked. There is no need to vacate the building or the whole floor if there had been no sustained and close contact with the confirmed case
- Carry out a thorough cleaning and disinfecting of that section of the workplace premises.
- Some employees may not be able to remain physically at their workplaces if they have been asked to vacate their work stations or are pending assessment by MOH’s contact tracing officers. If it is not feasible for such employees to work from home, employers should exercise flexibility and treat such absences as paid hospitalisation leave or paid outpatient sick leave.
- In general, MOM encourages employers to provide timely information to employees on latest developments and reassure employees and other relevant persons, e.g. customers, of the measures being taken to ensure their well-being at the workplace.
Additional Safety Measure
- Increase frequency of cleaning of areas with high human contact, e.g. countertops used in serving customers, common spaces used for meetings, toilets, lifts, refuse bins and handrails;
- Provide additional guidance on handling customers who are unwell, e.g. frontline staff can encourage customers who are unwell to see a doctor and to return another day, or advise the customer to put on a mask;
- Obtain travel declaration from employees on travel history / upcoming plans to the affected region(s);
- Encourage employees to take temperature regularly and monitor for respiratory symptoms; and
- Encourage employees to observe good personal hygiene by reminding them to wash their hands regularly, cover mouth if coughing or sneezing and to avoid touching their faces.
- Ensure that all activities that can take place through telecommuting are done from home even if the business is an essential service.
