Today’s scenario: You’ve received the news you can re-open for business and you’re ready to get back to work. During an ongoing pandemic with no known end in sight, a holistic approach is required to operate successfully with minimal risk to your employees and their families. 

Let’s begin by answering important questions about your specific type of business. Small businesses have different challenges than large corporations and specific industries have different risk factors, as well as workforce setups. 
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Take the time to analyze your business size, function, and daily interactions. Your answers will shape your return-to-work program.
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Questions for employers to consider when re-opening the workplace during this pandemic:

1. How many employees do you have? How many of those employees are critical to the daily operation of your physical workplace? 
   

2. How much work can be done virtually (not in person)? For example: Do your salespeople interact with clients mainly by phone? If so, consider having them continue working remotely to limit the number of people in the office. 
   

3. How many employees can work in person while safely staying six feet apart? Physical distancing in the workplace is a practice that continues to play a vital role in preventing site spread. 
   

4. While it’s crucial to ensure the physical safety of your employees, let’s also consider your team’s morale upon returning to work. In what ways can you nurture your company culture while physically distancing? Without shared meals and communal spaces, how will your team come together and thrive?

The big picture: Aim for long-term responsible operation. ‍

Re-opening your place of business with minimal risk is the first step to getting back to work.The vitality of your continued operation depends greatly on the coordinated steps you establish now. This will help you to continue to run your business safely down the road.

COVID Ready offers a comprehensive safety curriculum developed in-house at Carbon Health in accordance with CDC, WHO, and NHS guidelines and standards. It’s a holistic approach–a system that addresses the immediate task of re-opening, implements feasible protocol for daily operation, and instills peace of mind for both employer and employee.

“Our team developed COVID Ready by thinking through what systems need to be put in place for society to operate safely, and for individuals to feel confident in their own safety.” Ayo Omojola, VP Product, Carbon Health

By coupling testing with a robust employee monitoring, education, and contact tracing program, businesses can use the tools we’ve developed to re-open the doors, prevent outbreaks, and keep the lights on.

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A closer look at COVID Ready.

TESTING AND ASSESSMENT

COVID Ready offers a myriad of testing options and modalities including Antibody, Diagnostic, On-Site, At-Home, and In-Clinic. Our robust lab partnerships means we can choose the best partner for the best use case including capacity and location. Any Carbon Health lab partner is FDA EUA approved and has a minimum sensitivity and specificity rate. 

We recommend starting with a baseline risk assessment consisting of questions based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), and other public health authorities. Questions are also informed by Carbon Health’s vast experience testing and evaluating tens of thousands of patients during this crisis. 
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Baseline assessments determine:

Whether an employee has been exposed

How likely they are to be exposed based on daily activities

How at-risk you are of serious illness if infected

Who else (such as family members) might be put at serious risk if there is an infection 

Regardless of whether you opt to provide testing, all employees should leverage a daily symptom tracker, which can help assess ongoing risk.

MONITORING AND REPORTING

A centralized and easy-to-use dashboard allows your employees to engage with the program you customize. After completing a baseline test, employees receive a daily notification from the Carbon Health app with a few simple questions.

Daily employee check-in questions inquire about:

Exposure

Temperature using the thermometer provided

Other symptoms

Privacy is paramount. Results from daily employee monitoring are imported to an employer dashboard so program leaders can see eligibility and compliance status. Employee symptoms and health history are not shared. 

PREVENTION AND EDUCATION

Continued learning is crucial to ensure peace of mind and minimize risk to your team and their family members. COVID Ready provides tools about ongoing infection risks, potential outbreak management, and best practices on maintaining clean and safe workspaces.

Education modules offered to employees include:

How to clean your cell phone 

How to properly wear a face mask 

How to wash your hands

How to clean work surfaces 

How to stay safe in public transport

How to keep yourself safe while social distancing

CUSTOMIZED ACTION PLANS

COVID Ready sets you up for successful operation with minimal risk, now and for the road ahead. In the case  an employee tests positive or experiences an exposure event, it’s vital to have an action plan for intervention, care, and on-going monitoring. If your employee is confirmed with a positive COVID-19 test result, an anonymous contact tracing process will be managed by a healthcare provider. 

Our team also considers your business’s unique return-to-work protocol. With our in-house medical expertise, we can consult on how best to manage and ensure a seamless process. 

Our team is here for you on the road ahead.

We developed the COVID Ready program to give confidence to employers and peace of mind to employees. Our mission is to provide care for the people out there – some eager, some hesitant – walking back into their places of work to get our economy running again. This effort requires participation across all industries, between public and private sectors, innovative companies, and small businesses. 

If you’re ready to get back to work, we’re ready to partner with you.

Learn more about COVID Ready and get back to business efficiently and effectively.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to my colleagues at Carbon Health:

Clinicians: Sujal Mandavia

Engineering Team: Murat Akbal, Matthew Wollerman

Product Team: Ayo Omojola

Clinical Informatics: Haritha Atluri

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