- Do not panic
- Use tissue to touch face
- Wash keyboards and desks regularly
- Hand sanitizers will be placed throughout the studio. Please use these often throughout every day and rub for same amount of time as washing your hands
- Wash your hands properly (do it for same length of time it takes to sing happy birthday twice. Make sure to wash between all fingers and the tips of fingers and around thumb as well)
- All dishes must go through the dishwasher
- Wash door knobs repeatedly each day with wipes including bathroom, toilets, faucets after you use them
- We have added paper towels to the bathroom to help
- No shaking hands
- Cover faces when sneezing, coughing etc.
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
- Stay home when you are sick.
- CDC recommends face masks only for health facilities or health care workers OR if you have symptoms. So masks if you feel unwell as masks are meant for you not to transmit to others, not meant to protect you from getting others germs
- Avoid travel and venues with large crowds unless wearing a mask
- Temps of 100.4 or more is when concern starts
- We have thermometers at the front
- Temperature alone not a clear indicator of illness as some may have elevated some with COVID 19 may have no temperature.
- Best indicator is respiratory symptoms combined with an ongoing temperature. (coughing, sneezing, shortness of breath)
- Appears to most easily spread through respiratory droplets i.e. coughing and sneezing
- If sick stay 6 feet away from others, as much as possible, until safe at home
- Please report in fairness to others and we can arrange help to transport employees from work to nurse or doctors
- Now officially a pandemic
- DO NOT GO TO YOUR DOCTOR NOR EMERGENCY – CALL PUBLIC HEALTH:
- TELEHEALTH ONTARION 1-866-797-0000
- TORONTO PUBLIC HEALTH 416-338-7600
- Please keep these numbers in your phone
- Canada 117 cases / Ontario 42 as of Thursday
- Employees in Canada who don’t feel safe going into an office have a reasonable right to refuse unsafe work conditions if there’s a likelihood of infection.
- If somebody is unreasonably refusing to work because of the potential of catching coronavirus when there is no basis for that, that would be unreasonable.
- Preset legal steps to follow to allow this and put work refusal into place
Q16. When will I need to self-isolate/stay at home?
A16. You will need to stay home and self-isolate if:
- You have a lab-confirmed COVID-19 infection, do not require hospitalization, and a medical practitioner has indicated that you can recover at home.
- You are being assessed for COVID-19 infection by a healthcare provider.
- You have traveled from Hubei Province, China, or Iran within the past 14 days
- You are a returning traveler from an area under a travel health advisory for COVID-19 (other than Hubei Province or Iran) and develop respiratory symptoms within 14 days of travel. Please promptly self-isolate and contact Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000, your local public health unit or call your primary care provider’s office
- Call ahead prior to visiting any healthcare provider and let them know about travel history and symptoms (e.g., fever, cough, difficulty breathing) so that they can make special arrangements to see you quickly, provide testing, and ensure that they use proper infection control measures
Information on how to self monitor, how to self-isolate, and caring for someone who is self-isolating is available on Public Health Ontario COVID-19 page
Q17. Should I wear a mask to protect myself against COVID-19?
A17. For general, day-to-day activities, there is no need to wear a surgical or N95 mask.
Toronto Public Health advises residents to take the usual measures to reduce the risk of influenza and other respiratory infections:
- Get a yearly flu vaccination, available from clinics and pharmacies as this is the best way to prevent influenza infection
- Clean your hands frequently and thoroughly with soap and water, or use alcohol-based hand sanitizer
- Cover your mouth and nose when you cough and sneeze
- If you don’t have a tissue, sneeze or cough into your sleeve or arm
- Stay at home if you are sick.
Toronto Public Health does not recommend that individuals incur out of pocket expenses for items that are not recommended according to health evidence.
Q21. Does someone who has come into contact with a contact of a person who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 need to self isolate?
A21. Contacts of contacts do not need to self-isolate and do not need to take any additional precautions. Self-isolation is a precautionary measure only recommended for people who are in close contact with someone who has COVID-19 (e.g. a household member), or for people returning from certain areas under a travel health advisory
SICK PAY
Within Federal government billion dollar C-19 package announced March 11, 2020, Justin Trudeau included this:
The federal government also will waive the one-week waiting period for employment insurance to assist workers and businesses affected by the novel coronavirus, and explore other measures to support affected Canadians, including income supports for those who are not eligible for EI sickness benefits.
Therefore, in the event that anyone from the studio is affected and home longer than their sick days and our 14 day pay leeway, they may be able to activate EI sickness benefits.