Coronavirus update (1) - February 26, 2020
Hi everyone,
This is a duplicate of a communication previously sent on February 26, 2020.
Coronavirus has been in the news for the last few weeks and we’ve all seen the steady spread of new cases around the world. It seems probable that cases will develop in Montreal and Ottawa at some point, so we would like to be ready.
Right now, Canada is not in a situation that requires us to change how we work. In the event that things do change and it becomes risky to move around in public, we’ll likely make the decision to require everyone to stay home and work from there. In preparation for that, it would be a good idea to make sure that there is somewhere in your home for you to work, and that your internet connection is reliable. Make sure you bring your laptop and charger home with you each night.
In the meantime, we recommend starting to practice the following behaviour changes to minimize risk and be ready if this situation escalates:
- Keep yourselves informed.
- Wash your hands frequently.
- Stay at home if you are sick, and advise us if you experience symptoms or think you might have come into contact with the virus.
- Practice touching your faces less.
- Replace handshakes with elbow-bumps (the “Ebola handshake”) or fist bumps if that’s too weird for you.
- Start building harm-reduction habits like pushing elevator buttons with a knuckle instead of a fingertip.
We have placed hand sanitizers around the office, so please use them. Also, there are disinfecting surface wipes. Please make it a habit to wash your desk surface frequently.
Personally, I think it would probably be a smart move to buy a reusable respirator of some kind, with a minimum filter rating of N95. N99 and N/P100 are also good. These often have replaceable activated carbon filters, so having some of those spare would be smart as well.
Useful resources
Government of Canada: Outbreak Updates
Government of Canada: Coronavirus FAQ
Ottawa Citizen Article: Pandemic Preparation
Please chat with Lindsay or myself if you’ve got questions about this. This email is not intended to cause alarm, but to help us wisely prepare for something that may or may not happen.