The following is from an email sent to members of the Technology & Manufacturing Association on March 30, 2020:
WASHINGTON – The CDC has provided clearer guidance and best practices to operate during this COVID-19 period. Below are the specifics from the National Association of Manufacturers that may be used to supplement current plans and response efforts.
NEW CDC FACILITY GUIDANCE
If an employee in the manufacturing environment has a confirmed case of COVID-19, what are the proper protocols to prevent community spread?
For confirmed OR suspected cases of COVID-19:
Sick employees should follow CDC-recommended steps. These include:
Stay home except to get medical care
Separate yourself from other people in your home – this is known as home isolation. Use a separate bedroom and bathroom, if possible.
Call ahead before visiting your doctor
Wear a face mask if you are sick and one is available
Cover your coughs and sneezes with your elbow or use a tissue
Clean your hands often by washing them with soap and water or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol.
Avoid sharing personal household items
Clean and disinfect all high touch surfaces daily in your isolation area with an EPA-registered disinfectant.
Let a caregiver take care of cleaning and disinfecting high touch surfaces in common areas.
Monitor your symptoms and consult your healthcare provider if symptoms worsen.
Be sure to get care if you have trouble breathing, or have any other emergency warning signs, or if you think it is an emergency.
Employees should not return to work until the criteria to end home isolation are met, in consultation with healthcare providers and state and local health departments.
A link to this information will be provided after the call.
Employees who develop symptoms including fever, cough, or shortness of breath should notify their supervisor and stay home.
Employees should stay consult their healthcare provider if symptoms worsen.
Be sure to get care if you have trouble breathing, or have any other emergency warning signs, or if you think it is an emergency.
Employees who appear to have symptoms upon arrival to work or become sick during the day should be immediately separated from other employees, customers, and visitors and sent home.
If possible, provide sick employees with a mask while they are waiting to leave and have them wear it in transit until they get home in order to limit spread of contamination.
Follow the CDC cleaning and disinfection recommendations, including closing off the areas used by the employee (e.g. their office or work station) as long as practical, and up to 24 hours if possible. Then focusing on cleaning and disinfecting the high-touch, hard/non-porous surfaces:
Dirty surfaces should be cleaned with soap and water prior to disinfection.
To disinfect, use products that meet EPA’s criteria for use against SARS-Cov-2, the cause of COVID-19, and are appropriate for the surface.
More information on this is covered in the questions below.
If a case is confirmed:
If an employee is confirmed to have COVID-19 infection, employers should inform fellow employees of their possible exposure to COVID-19 in the workplace but maintain confidentiality as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Employees should then self-monitor for symptoms (i.e., fever, cough, or shortness of breath).
If other employees develop symptoms they should follow the guidance above should then self-monitor for symptoms (i.e., fever, cough, or shortness of breath).
If other employees develop symptoms they should follow the guidance above.
If a manufacturing employee in a non-production setting has a confirmed case of COVID-19, what are the proper protocols to prevent community spread?
The steps are the same for employees in non-production settings as in the manufacturing environment.
Should a plant shut down as result of a COVID-19 case or outbreak?
If a plant shutdown occurs, what is the recommended time offline to disinfect, and what is the appropriate timeframe to resume operations?
The areas used by the sick person should be closed off. It is not necessary to shut down the entire facility.
Wait as long as practical before cleaning and disinfecting the affected area to minimize potential for exposure to respiratory droplets.
Open outside doors and windows to increase air circulation in the area.
If possible, wait up to 24 hours before beginning cleaning and disinfection.
Cleaning staff should clean and disinfect all areas (e.g., offices, bathrooms, and common areas) used by the ill persons, focusing especially on frequently touched surfaces.
Dirty surfaces should be cleaned with soap and water prior to disinfection.
To disinfect, use products that meet EPA’s criteria for use against SARS-Cov-2, (called the EPA List N) or diluted bleach solutions or alcohol solutions with at least 70 percent alcohol (www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/list-n-disinfectants- use-against-sars-cov-2).
Products on the EPA List N have:
Demonstrated efficacy against a harder to kill virus
Qualified for emerging viral pathogens claim
Demonstrated efficacy against another human coronavirus similar to SARS-CoV-2
Cleaning staff should wear disposable gloves and gowns, coveralls, or other personal protective equipment (PPE) suitable for the disinfectant being used.
Be sure to remove and dispose of/launder PPE, as appropriate, and clean hands after. There is no additional PPE required specific to COVID-19.
Operations can resume as soon as the cleaning and disinfection are completed.
To be added to the Technology & Manufacturing Association’s COVID-19 email alerts, write info@tmaillinois.org.
If an infected employee physically contacted manufacturing equipment, inputs and/or outputs, what steps are needed to disinfect the equipment, the raw materials and potentially the finished products?
If the objects in question are not accessible to employees, they may have little potential for contamination and may not present an exposure hazard of concern.
If equipment, inputs and outputs are thought to be contaminated and can be cleaned and disinfected (or laundered, for porous materials), follow the CDC cleaning and disinfection recommendations.These recommendations indicate that dirty surfaces should be cleaned with soap and water prior to disinfection.
To disinfect, use products on EPA’s N list or diluted bleach. There is more information on this on cleaning and disinfection guidance on the CDC Business website for this as well (www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019- ncov/community/guidance-business-response.html).
If objects are thought to be contaminated and cannot be cleaned and disinfected, they can be isolated.
COVID-19 is a new disease and we are still learning how it spreads.
Current evidence suggests that novel coronavirus may remain viable for hours to days on surfaces made from a variety of materials.
Some studies have suggested anywhere between hours and up to nine days, depending on surface material and environmental conditions (e.g., temperature and humidity).
It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.
What are the recommended strategies and practices for a workplace quarantine if employees are becoming ill?
Employees who have symptoms including fever, cough, or shortness of breath should notify their supervisor and stay home.
Employees who appear to have symptoms including fever, cough, or shortness of breath upon arrival to work or become sick during the day should be immediately separated from other employees, customers, and visitors, given a face mask if possible, and sent home.
Sick employees should follow CDC-recommended steps. Employees should not return to work until the criteria to end home isolation are met, in consultation with healthcare providers and state and local health departments.
If an employee is diagnosed with COVID-19, should the impacted facility expect a CDC investigation? If so, what should the facility expect in order to be prepared, and what type of interruption should be anticipated?
While CDC may deploy staff to investigate clusters of confirmed COVID-19, it does not routinely investigate every impacted workplace. Employers should cooperate with state and local health officials.
Is the CDC developing a nationwide rapid home test for COVID-19 that could be deployed in the workplace?
CDC’s focus has been on increasing state and local laboratory capacity. As of March 18, 91 public health laboratories are now running the CDC assay, including 50 states, plus District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico.
As of March 18, CDC has tested over 4,754 samples that equate to more than 1,610 patients. Public health labs have tested more than 40,360 samples.
The International Reagent Resource, who distributes kit components to public health labs, shipped 309 reagents to 53 laboratories on Thursday, March 19, 2020.
To be added to the Technology & Manufacturing Association’s COVID-19 email alerts, write info@tmaillinois.org.
If you are a close contact of someone with COVID-19, or you are a resident in a community where there is ongoing spread of COVID-19 and you develop symptoms of COVID-19, call your healthcare provider and tell them about your symptoms and your exposure. They will decide whether you need to be tested, but keep in mind that there is no treatment for COVID-19 and people who are mildly ill may be able to isolate and care for themselves at home. The best thing you can do is to take steps to protect yourself from respiratory illness, such as washing your hands often and avoiding touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
If community members outside of the workplace or facility are diagnosed with COVID-19, what procedures should be deployed to prevent community spread beyond the current interim guidance to businesses that the CDC has already provided?
CDC updates its website and guidance as needed and as new information arises.
Coordinate with State and local health departments who may advise on additional policies and procedures based on local conditions.
Employers may also want to the OSHA Guidance for Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19. It has information about risk categories and steps that employers can take to reduce transmission for each category.
Helpful links:
COVID-19 symptoms: www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms- testing/symptoms.html
What to do if you’re sick (including when to discontinue home isolation): www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/index.html
Cleaning and disinfection: www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019- ncov/community/organizations/cleaning-disinfection.html
EPA’s list of disinfectants to use against SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19:www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/organizations/cleaning-disinfection.html
OSHA Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19: www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3990.pdf
| To be added to the Technology & Manufacturing Association’s COVID-19 email alerts, write info@tmaillinois.org. |
