This page lists COVID-19 information and appropriate precautions for workplaces where IFPTE members work, including guidance for U.S. federal government agencies, healthcare and frontline workers, and links to provincial and state government information.
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NOTE: IFPTE's legislative advocacy and economic policy response to Coronavirus/COVID-19 can be found here
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National and local government health agencies in the U.S. and Canada as well as the World Health Organization are coordinating a response to mitigate and limit the outbreak of an upper-respiratory illness with flu-like symptoms called "2019 Novel Coronavirus" or COVID-19. In the midst of this global pandemic, health authorities across the globe are urging communities, workplaces, working people and the public to prepare, cooperate, and help mitigate the impact in their communities and minimize the harm to the most vulnerable. While older adults and people with underlying medical conditions are at higher risk of infection, the U.S. CDC has warned that "COVID-19 can result in severe disease among persons of all age."
Personal hygienic practices for minimizing the risk of COVID-19 transmission and infection are vitally important:
- thorough hand washing
- covering the mouth and nose when coughing
- avoiding hand contact with your face
- self-quarintining at home when sick
- cleaning and disinfecting objects and surfaces in shared and communal spaces
- limiting contact with people who are infected
Because COVID-19 is highly contagious, health experts are urging the public to practice aggressive "social distancing" to slow the spread of the disease and "flatten the curve". Aggressive social distancing includes wide-scale implementation of telework and temporary office and business closings, canceling public events and meetings, suspending school and college classes, and limiting contact in public settings. See this factsheet on social distancing [PDF] from the Santa Clara County Public Health Department.