At the end of December 2019, the World Health Organization was alerted to several cases of pneumonia in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. This virus was identified as a novel Coronavirus (now called Covid-19), this organism belongs to a family of viruses, which includes the common cold, as well as SARS and MERS viruses.

By the end of January, it was reported that more than 7,000 people had been infected by the virus.  The severity of the Coronavirus infection is under scrutiny via the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) and WHO (World Health Organization) and it was declared a public health emergency on 30 January.

What are we doing for our customers?

Please be assured we are taking action and sharing advice to ensure that our frontline colleagues continue to deliver a hygienic, safe and high level of service to our customers.

We will also be providing information on an ongoing basis regarding what you can do to reduce the potential risks of virus transmission in your location. Scientists around the world are currently looking into the transmissibility and severity of Covid-19, but until we know more there are hygiene behaviours that we can and should adopt that are proven to be effective against the spread of viruses.

Should you take special precautions?

There are no current special precautions that have officially been advised, however, practicing regular good hand hygiene using soap and water, and the use of hand sanitiser is beneficial in helping prevent the spread of bacteria and viruses. This is of particular importance when travelling or working in heavily populated areas such as airports, schools, hospitals etc.

We also suggest using signage to increase the awareness of handwashing at this time – for example by displaying posters in critical areas; washrooms, kitchen and eating spaces; implement additional hand sanitiser stations; and increase washroom checks to ensure that hand soap and hand drying facilities are maintained and always available.

 

 

For more information about the services and solutions we offered to improve hand hygiene practices,  please feel free to contact us or call us on 0808 296 4926, and we will be more than happy to help.