What is COVID-19? Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The coronavirus typically affects the respiratory tract of humans. It is commonly associated with the common cold and more seriously, pneumonia. The disease was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and has since spread globally, resulting in the ongoing 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic. Common symptoms include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Other symptoms may include fatigue, muscle pain, diarrhea, sore throat, loss of smell and abdominal pain. President Luis Rodriguez on COVID-19 TWU LOCAL 568Essential worker documentation If you need documented proof that you are an essential worker, please click the button below to download a letter you may use. Simply type in your name and print it. If you need any help with the letter, please reach out to the Employee Service Center. Download a blank letter that you can print and then write your name in. How to Protect Yourself & Others First, Let's Know How it Spreads:Person-to-person spreadThe virus is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person.
Spread from contact with contaminated surfaces or objectsIt may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes. This is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads, but we are still learning more about this virus. CDC recommends people practice frequent “hand hygiene,” which is either washing hands with soap or water or using an alcohol-based hand rub. CDC also recommends routine cleaning of frequently touched surfaces. How easily the virus spreadsHow easily a virus spreads from person-to-person can vary. Some viruses are highly contagious, like measles, while other viruses do not spread as easily. Another factor is whether the spread is sustained, which means it goes from person-to-person without stopping.
Everyone Should...Clean your hands often
Tips from the CDC on washing your hands: Handwashing: Clean Hands Save Lives Avoid close contact - Social Distancing
Cover your mouth and nose with a cloth face cover when around others
Tips from the CDC: Use of Cloth Face Coverings to Help Slow the Spread of COVID-19 Cover coughs and sneezes
Clean and disinfect
Watch for symptomsReported illnesses have ranged from mild symptoms to severe illness and death for confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases. Testing for COVID-19Who should be tested:Not everyone needs to be tested for COVID-19. Here is some information that might help in making decisions about seeking care or testing.
CDC has guidance for who should be tested, but decisions about testing are at the discretion of state and local health departments and/or individual clinicians. Call your doctor or your County Health Department if you think you have been exposed to COVID-19 and develop a fever and symptoms, such as cough or difficulty breathing. Tell them about your symptoms and your exposure. They will decide whether you need to be tested. Consult your health care provider for any other symptoms that are severe or concerning. Essential Workers Testing A COVID-19 drive-thru testing center is operational near Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens from 9 am to 5 pm. We have received confirmation from various members that essential workers and their immediate family can get tested by bringing:
All documents should be placed on the dashboard of your vehicle. The process is taking an average of 20 minutes and results are available 7 to 10 days after. You will only receive a call if you are positive to COVID-19, negative results will not be contacted. Hard Rock Stadium Address: 347 Don Shula Dr, Miami Gardens, FL 33056 What to Do if You Are SickSteps to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 if you are sickFollow the steps below: If you are sick with COVID-19 or think you might have COVID-19, follow the steps below to care for yourself and to help protect other people in your home and community. Stay home except to get medical care
? When to Seek Medical Attention? If you develop emergency warning signs for COVID-19 get medical attention immediately. Emergency warning signs include*:
*This list is not all-inclusive. Please consult your medical provider for any other symptoms that are severe or concerning. Separate yourself from other people and pets in your home, this is known as home isolation.
Call ahead before visiting your doctor
If you are sick wear a cloth covering over your nose and mouth You should wear a cloth face covering, over your nose and mouth if you must be around other people even at home). Note: During the COVID-19 pandemic, medical-grade facemasks are reserved for healthcare workers and some first responders. You may need to improvise a cloth face-covering using a scarf or bandana. Click for PDF: How to create a cloth face covering, according to the CDC Cover your coughs and sneezes
Clean your hands often
Avoid sharing personal household items
Clean all “high-touch” surfaces every day Clean high-touch surfaces in your isolation area (“sick room” and bathroom) every day; let a caregiver clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces in other areas of the home.
High-touch surfaces include phones, remote controls, counters, tabletops, doorknobs, bathroom fixtures, toilets, keyboards, tablets, and bedside tables. Monitor your symptoms
How The Coronavirus Attacks the Body (video credit: The New York Times) How to discontinue home isolation People with COVID-19 who have stayed home (home isolated) can stop home isolation under the following conditions:
In all cases, follow the guidance of your healthcare provider and local health department. The decision to stop home isolation should be made in consultation with your healthcare provider and state and local health departments. Local decisions depend on local circumstances. More information is available here. Florida's COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard Florida Department of Health, Division of Disease Control and Health Protection VIDEO SUMMARY OF COVID-19 (Source: Wikipedia) WHO is continuously monitoring and responding to this outbreak. This Q&A will be updated as more is known about COVID-19, how it spreads and how it is affecting people worldwide
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Click on the Link for many resources that are available to help national, state and local governments as well as corporations, communities and health care professionals develop preparedness plans and strengthen the response to different scenarios for COVID-19. (CLICK LINK) (CLICK LINK)
We, at TWU Local 568 recently asked our law firm, Phillips Richard & Rind PA which offers legal services in areas of union general counsel. Whether or not the employer can or cannot release names of employees with COVID-19 and will there be any legal implications if they do release names?
Here's the answer with some situations as examples Suppose a manager learns and confirms that an employee has CO-VID-19, or has symptoms associated with the disease. The manager knows she must report it but is worried about violating ADA confidentiality. What should she do? The ADA and HIPAA, of course, require that an employer keep all medical information about employees confidential, even if that information is not about disability. Clearly, here, the information that an employee has symptoms of, or a diagnosis of, COVID-19, is medical information. But the fact that this is medical information does not prevent the manager from reporting to appropriate employer officials so that they can take actions consistent with guidance from the CDC and other public health authorities. The question is really what information to report: is it the fact that an employee -- unnamed employed-- has symptoms of COVID-19, or a diagnosis, or is it the identity of that employee? The answer is that exactly who in the organization needs to know the identity of the employee will really depend on each workplace and why a specific official needs this information. Employers should make every effort to limit the number of people who get to know the name of the employee. Certainly, a designated representative of the employer may interview the employee to get a list of people with whom the employee possibly had contact through the workplace, so that the employer can then take action to notify those who may have come into contact with the employee. However, this does not require disclosing the employee's name. For small employers, of course, co-workers might be able to figure out who the employee is, but employers are still in that situation prohibited from confirming or revealing the employee's identity. Also, remember that all employer officials who are designated as needing to know the identity of an employee should be specifically instructed that they must maintain the confidentiality of this information. And in fact, employers may want to plan what supervisors and managers should do if this situation arises and determine in advance who will be responsible for receiving information and taking the next steps. Employers may be concerned that telling employees that "someone at this location" or "someone on the fourth floor" has COVID-19 may not provide sufficient information to allow people to know if they should take further steps to protect themselves or others. Therefore, can employers tell the workforce the name of the employee with COVID-19? No, the ADA and HIPAA do not permit such a broad disclosure of the medical condition of a specific employee. More importantly, this broad disclosure is not recommended by the CDC. The CDC specifically advises employers to maintain the confidentiality of people with confirmed COVID-19. IMPORTANT LINKS
***Sources: Center for Diseases Contro (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), Florida Department of Health, Wikipedia, The New York Times, New Jetnet, Phillips Richard & Rind PA Law Firm.**** TWU Local 568 is in no way shape or form a health organization, you should always double-check every procedure listed here and follow it at your own risk. All information here was merely copied and pasted from official and government sources
Page Last Updated: Apr 06, 2020 (20:33:57)
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