Disclaimer, Vinteum is not a healthcare professional. All the advice below is based on the World Health Organization, Harvard Medical School, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and John Hopkins University.
HOAs and condominiums have a duty of care to their residents, staff and any visitors who come in and out of your community. You need to keep people calm and safe, the situation seems very scary but panicking doesn’t help.
You should be keeping up with Federal and State guidance on Coronavirus, otherwise known as COVID-19 and passing on the most relevant information to the community by email, phone calls or text messages. However, do fact check all information before you share it with your community. Ideally all information should come from the Federal or State government, a medical research institute or the World Health Organization (WHO).
The most important thing for your HOA or condo to have is plenty of soap in any shared bathrooms you may have, and paper towels for people to dry their hands and use to open doors. You should share all current information on symptoms and prevention.
According to WHO the symptoms are “fever, tiredness, and dry cough. Some patients may have aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat or diarrhea… People with fever, cough and difficulty breathing should seek medical attention.”
Anywhere that people pass often it’s a good idea to have hand sanitiser available and a poster about the symptoms of COVID-19 and how to wash their hands. You should encourage all residents and staff to wash their hands with soap or alcohol hand sanitiser frequently. Put posters on notice boards and elevators with symptoms and preventative steps, and send a notice to your community with the same information.
If you have employees in your condo or HOA, make sure that they feel comfortable telling you if they are unwell. If they have symptoms of coronavirus, current advice is to stay at home, or to go home if they get sick when they’re at work. If a member of their family has symptoms, then you should have flexible policies that allow staff to stay at home to care for them.
Ensure that any common spaces are being regularly cleaned and disinfected, this includes any amenities, lobbies, elevators, hallways, shared kitchens and bathrooms. Doorknobs, countertops and workstations should be wiped down before each use.
Residents must let the board and/or property manager know the instant they have symptoms of coronavirus or if they have returned from a medium or high risk country. They should also call their doctor and try to self-quarantine for 14 days, avoiding going outside and standing 3ft from people to minimize the risk of passing on the virus.
Keeping an eye on CDC, local and state recommendations for COVID-19, and ensuring that accurate information is shared with your community is the best thing to do at the moment.
