As all of you know, the world is experiencing a pandemic of a coronavirus that can cause very serious disease. The disease has been named COVID-19, which is short for “coronavirus disease 2019” as it started late last year in China and quickly spread to the rest of the world, including Ohio.
Although steps have been taken to limit its spread, it is inevitable that there will be more people who will become infected. Most will get sick for a few days then recover. Some will be sick for longer. Unfortunately, some will even die, especially elderly people or those with an underlying disease condition that makes them more susceptible.
Spreading of the virus can’t be stopped, but it can be slowed down if we all work together and implement some very simple steps in our lives. As you all know, our work requires that we have contact with a lot of people, and it is likely that some will be sick, in spite of all the warnings to stay home to avoid infecting others. We have also sent an email thru VINx to all clients with an email address, asking them not to come in if they are sick.
To try to keep our work environment as safe as possible, we will implement the following steps to try to reduce the risk to ourselves and our families, effective immediately:
- Please read the FAQs from AVMA regarding answering pet owners’ questions about the virus to help allay their concerns about their pets being infected. Do not make up information or repeat something you’ve read online or heard on TV. Stick to the facts as we know them at this time.
- Wash your hands frequently. You must wash your hands after every interaction with a client or pet.
- Avoid touching your face as much as possible.
- If you yourself are sick and have a fever of 100°F or more, please stay home. The risk of infecting your co-workers is too high. We need to take care of each other. We are in this together.
- Masks must be worn when approaching a client to bring a pet in or out of the building, or when delivering medications to their cars.
- We are increasing our cleaning schedule in all high contact areas, which includes the following steps:
- All door handles need to be wiped down with disinfectant at noon, again at 5 pm, and on late nights, at the end of the shift.
- The counter at the front desk should also be cleaned and disinfected on this schedule.
- Exam room tables and counters should be cleaned and disinfected after every appointment.
- Keyboards and telephone handsets should be wiped with disinfectant wipes on a daily basis.
- Addendum March 17, 2020: in spite of new procedures to keep clients from entering the building, these cleaning procedures will remain in place:
- All door handles need to be wiped down with disinfectant at noon, again at 5 pm, and on late nights, at the end of the shift.
- The counter at the front desk should also be cleaned and disinfected on this schedule.
- Exam room tables and counters should be cleaned and disinfected after every appointment.
- Keyboards and telephone handsets should be wiped with disinfectant wipes on a daily basis.
- Outside of work, avoid contact with sick people. This sounds silly, and it is common sense, but to be aware of your surroundings and try to avoid close proximity to strangers. Most experts recommend trying to maintain a distance of at least six feet from others when possible.
These are simple common sense things that we can do to try to protect not only ourselves, but our families and our communities. Like all epidemics, this will eventually end, and life will gradually get back to normal. We will get through this. You all are very important to me. Let’s work together and take care of each other while taking care of our patients. If at any time, anyone has questions, or if anyone has ideas on other things we can do to keep the workplace safe, please reach out to me at any time.
Dr. Daugherty