Pandemic Planning: Being Prepared for COVID-19

With the spread of Coronavirus COVID-19, it’s time to dust off your Pandemic Plan and ensure that you follow protocol to protect your employees and customers. How your organization responds to and recovers from COVID-19 is everyone’s responsibility.

For your business to weather the storm, ensure your management team is discussing and addressing the following topics:

How are you tracking travel for your employees (business and personal)? What is the cancellation policy for hotels, airlines, conferences? Are you requiring staff to self-quarantine?
- Be aware of where events are scheduled and whether a state of emergency has been declared as refunds may be available
What means of communication are you leveraging internally and externally?
Are you having employees reporting their current status to management and tracking accordingly?
At what point will you require social distancing and/or work from home?
Do you allow employees to work from home and do you have enough remote access available (i.e. VPN)?
Will adjustments be required to your HR policies related to sick leave and time off?
What is your HR policy for sick leave if an employee has to self-quarantine?
If they are infected with COVID-19, would you still require them to work from home?
Have you accounted for limited staffing situations due to employees’ childcare providers and/or schools being closed?
Have you defined the minimum number of staff required to perform critical business processes and started cross training where necessary?
What protocols will you follow before staff can return to work?
Are there any legal implications with monitoring the health of employees such as taking temperatures?
What are your escalation procedures to engage local government agencies such as the Public Health Department if an employee tests positive for COVID-19?
Have you identified vendors that can assist with sanitizing your workspace (outside of normal janitorial services)?

It is important in times like these to keep everyone informed. Every day we continue to hear more about the Coronavirus and how it’s impacting our society, company, and families/friends. Knowledge is power, so make sure you continue to stay on top of current information about the virus with trusted resources and data related to Coronavirus. Here are some important media links that may help you during this time:

Infinite Blue is here to help you throughout this situation. We are happy to answer any questions you may have. Reach out to us at info@infiniteblue.com.