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In March 2020, the World Health Organization officially named the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. But, the first diagnosed case in the U.S. happened in the middle of January. 

Now, experts believe COVID-19 was spreading at least a month earlier. The coronavirus is a fast-spreading illness that can be hard to spot. 

If you’re a business owner, coronavirus protection is probably at the top of your list of essential tasks. You want to keep your business afloat while also protecting your employees, customers, and community from this dangerous illness.

Luckily, there are many safety strategies you can use for coronavirus protection. Read on to learn what you can do to protect your business.

As a second line of defense, temperature scanners are essential to making sure employees are entering the workplace without experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. Ideally, the temperature screening device should offer mask detection and remain accurate within 0.5 °F.

As a result of these precautionary measures, RDI Medical has been able to sustain operations throughout the pandemic and continues to provide face masks to keep with the 100 Day Mask Up Challenge.

2. Require Face Masks at Your Business

Since COVID-19 is airborne, face masks are one of the best methods of coronavirus protection. Whether you have a restaurant, a retail store, or a corporate business, you should require everyone to wear masks. 

Masks can include fabric face coverings, disposable masks, or respirators. They need to use mask materials that will keep droplets from escaping the mask. It is also important to make sure everyone is wearing their face mask properly.

If you have a retail business or one that allows the public to come inside, put up signs that show you require masks. It can be as simple as ‘Mask Required’. This should encourage most patrons to follow the rules, but if they don’t you can refer them to the sign. 

If you or your staff doesn’t interact with the public, you should wear masks at all times when you’re at work. According to the CDC, you should wear a face covering anytime you’re around people you don’t live with.

3. Encourage Sick Workers to Stay Home

Another key part of limiting the spread in your business is to encourage sick workers to stay home. This can lead to staffing issues, but it’s important if you value the health and safety of your employees and customers.

To make this possible, you need to have flexible sick pay policies. Otherwise, some employees might come into work when they’re sick out of fear of losing the money or their job. That’s why you need to come up with a financial program that allows workers to stay home when they’re sick.

If a worker has symptoms or tests positive, you need to encourage a 14-day home quarantine or isolation. If they can stay home and get tested, you’ll have a better chance of avoiding an outbreak at your business. This can also help prevent the need to shut down your business due to an outbreak.

This policy also needs to apply if someone in your employee’s household is sick. If they’ve picked it up from a family member or roommate, they can carry it into the workplace. Give them time to get tested and isolate at home if necessary.

4. Create a Hygiene and Cleaning Policy

Another part of coronavirus protection measures involves cleaning and disinfecting. Make a policy that outlines things like how often employees should disinfect cash registers, countertops, and use hand sanitizer. This will make sure everyone’s on the same page.

Encourage your employees to wash their hands for 20 seconds as often as possible, especially before and after breaks. Also make sure to provide plenty of hand sanitizer.

If you have a retail business, it’s most important to disinfect high-touch areas like door handles, debit card machines, and shopping carts. You can provide a space near the door so customers can wipe their own carts with disinfectant wipes.

Even if you have a business with little contact with the public, it’s still important to clean and disinfect. You can hire an outside cleaning service to disinfect the office. You can also provide hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes so employees can clean their own workstations.

5. Implement Social Distancing Measures

Since COVID-19 spreads through close contact, social distancing is a helpful prevention strategy. According to the CDC social distancing means keeping at least 6 feet away from other people whenever possible. 

The exact measures you choose will depend on your business. Just remember that the less face-to-face time there is between people, the lower the infection risk will be. 

If you have a corporate office, the best option is to move to remote work. If that’s not an option, you can stagger the in-office work days so there’s fewer people in the office at a time. You can also put up plexiglass barriers and move workspaces away from each other. 

For a retail store, you can limit the amount of customers in your store at a time. You can also put arrows on the floor in checkout lines to keep people 6 feet apart. Another option is to put up plexiglass barriers between your customers and your cashiers.

Coronavirus Protection for Your Business Can Start Today

It’s always been stressful to own a business. But, owning a business during the coronavirus comes with even more stressors. That said, following local health guidelines, mask wearing, and a flexible sick leave policy can help. 

Protection from coronavirus starts with you. You can create a safe work environment by modeling the right behavior. The right policies will help keep everyone on the same page and help your business thrive in spite of it all. 

If you’re in need of high-quality face masks made right here in the U.S., we can help. At RDI Medical, we offer face masks and wholesale masks to businesses of all sizes. Check out our face masks and place an order today.