Planning To Reopen - Our Schools, Mitigation Across Settings and Sectors

8/7/2020 (Permalink)

As the state, local communities and families struggle to understand and plan for the best, safest, course of action to take regarding the reopening of our schools we will be doing our best to share with our communities the most up-to-date guidance regarding best practices to reopen our school systems in the most responsible and safe way possible.

According to the CDC, in lieu of a vaccine or therapeutic drug, mitigation is the greatest weapon communities can wield to slow the spread of a virus with pandemic potential such as COVID-19. COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a new (and some data suggests evolving) coronavirus.

The following highlights CDC's recommended mitigation strategies to consider in communities with local COVID-19 transmission across settings and sectors when developing your communities' plan to responsibly and safely reopen school systems.  

NOTE: COVID-19 is highly transmissible. Individuals should follow these universal precautions regardless of the extent of mitigation needed:

1. Follow healthy hygiene practices
2. Stay at home when sick
3. Practice social distancing 
4. Use a cloth face covering (with some exceptions) in community settings when physical distancing cannot be maintained.

As always, work with your local health officials to determine a set of strategies appropriate for your community’s situation.

(See our Planning to Reopen series of blogs for more information regarding CDC, EPA, FDA, Mass EEA and OSHA safety requirements). To review the administration's reopening guidance from the state click here. To view Governor Baker's full report click here).

Mitigation Across Settings and Sectors

Cross-cutting community mitigation strategies can be organized into the following categories:

1. Promoting behaviors that prevent spread
2. Maintaining healthy environments
3. Maintaining healthy operations
4. Preparing for when someone gets sick

Presuming a community is not sheltering-in-place, cross-cutting strategies outlined below should be implemented to the extent possible, and in accordance with the amount of ongoing community transmission. 

Important Note: Not all bullets are relevant to each setting or sector.  The bullets are meant to be illustrative of community mitigation measures to consider. 

Promote Behaviors that Prevent Spread

1. Educate people to stay home when sick or when they have been in close contact with someone with COVID-19
2. Teach and reinforce practicing hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette
3. Teach and reinforce the use of cloth face coverings to protect others (if appropriate)
4. Ensure adequate supplies are easily available (e.g., soap, hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol, paper towels) to support healthy hygiene behavior
5. Post signs or posters and promote messaging about behaviors that prevent spread

Maintain Healthy Environments

1. Intensify cleaning and disinfection of frequently touched surfaces
2. Ensure ventilation systems operate properly and increase circulation of outdoor air
3. Ensure all water systems are safe to use
4. Modify layouts to promote social distance of at least 6 feet between people – especially for persons who do not live together
5. Install physical barriers and guides to support social distancing if appropriate
6. Close communal spaces, or stagger use and clean and disinfect between use
7. Limit sharing of objects, or clean and disinfect between use

Maintain Healthy Operations

1. Protect people at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19
2. To cope with stress, encourage people to take breaks from the news, take care of their bodies, take time to unwind and connect with others, particularly when they have concerns
3. Maintain awareness of local or state regulations
4. Stagger or rotate scheduling
5. Create static groups or “cohorts” of individuals and avoid mixing between groups
6. Pursue virtual events. Maintain social distancing at any in-person events, and limit group size as much as possible
7. Limit non-essential visitors, volunteers, and activities involving external groups or organizations, especially with those who are not from the local area
8. Encourage telework and virtual meetings if possible
9. Consider options for non-essential travel in accordance with state and local regulations
10. Designate a COVID-19 point of contact
11. Implement flexible and non-punitive leave policies
12. Monitor absenteeism and create a back-up staffing plan
13. Train staff on all safety protocols
14. Consider conducting daily health checks such as temperature screening or symptom checking
15. Encourage those who share the facilities to also adhere to mitigation strategies
16. Put in place communication systems for:
    1. Individuals to self-report COVID-19 symptoms, a positive test for COVID-19, or exposure to someone with COVID-19
    2. Notifying local health authorities of COVID-19 cases
    3. Notifying individuals (employees, customers, students, etc.) of any COVID-19 exposures while maintaining confidentiality in accordance with privacy laws
17. Notifying individuals (e.g, employees, customers, students) of any facility closures

Prepare for When Someone Gets Sick

1. Prepare to isolate and safely transport those who are sick to their home or to a healthcare facility
2. Encourage individuals who are sick to follow CDC guidance  for caring for oneself and others who are sick
3. Notify local health officials of any case of COVID-19 while maintaining confidentiality in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
4. Notify those who have had close contact with a person diagnosed with COVID-19 and advise them to stay home and self-monitor for symptoms, and follow CDC guidance if symptoms develop
5. Advise individuals who are sick when it would be safe for them to return based on CDC's criteria to discontinue home isolation
6. Close off areas used by someone who is sick. Wait >24 hours before cleaning and disinfecting. Ensure safe and correct use and storage of EPA-approved disinfectants, including storing products securely away from children.

Reminder

Each community is unique. Appropriate mitigation strategies should be based on the best available data. Decision making will vary based on the level of community transmission and local circumstances.

1. No one strategy is sufficient.

While the administration continues to work with communities to implement best practices and protocols for reopening our schools we will continue to share with you guidance from the CDC, EPA, FDA, Mass EEA and OSHA and the Governor's office to follow as we prepare for the new school year.

Also, we at SERVPRO of Newton/Wellesley know that not every community has access to the resources necessary to meet the strict cleaning guidelines to ensure a safe environment for our children. For those communities, we are here to help!

Certified: SERVPRO Cleaned

The Disaster Remediation Teams at SERVPRO of Newton/Wellesley are specialists in cleaning services and we adhere to the highest cleaning and sanitation standards. We are prepared to clean and disinfect your schools, according to protocols set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We have years of experience in dealing with biological contaminants, and we will go beyond the scope of work of "normal daily cleaning". Call SERVPRO of Newton/Wellesley today for a free consultation - (617) 332-9000.

All of us here at SERVPRO of Newton/Wellesley want you and your loved ones to stay safe and know that we will make it through this together! Rest assured, we will continue to do our best to keep you up-to-date and informed!