Coronavirus Update

Posted: March 5, 2020

For: College Employees
From: Jill Anderson, HR Director and Marneé Crawford, Director of Nursing

With the continued spread of the Coronavirus across our nation, we'd like to share with our staff and faculty a few of the steps that we've taken to this point and provide you with a few reminders. Our College is committed to providing a healthful environment for all students and employees.There have already been several communications sent to our students by Dee Havig, Interim Vice President for Student Services. The leadership across constituency groups of Northwest College have taken important steps in keep our campus community safe by revising the Pandemic Plan, making important adjustments in custodial processes to wipe down high-touch surfaces, and preparing hand washing signage that will soon be in each bathroom on campus (poster for safe hand washing techniques). We’ve been in constant contact with other leaders across the state and throughout the nation to share information that has been helpful in keeping our teaching and learning environment healthy and safe. These conversations are important and will continue throughout the duration of the heightened risks associated with this virus.

At this time there are no reported cases in Wyoming.However, it is becoming increasingly likely that COVID-19 will eventually spread to our state.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, some of which cause the common cold in people and others that circulate among animals. This is a new virus and new viruses need special attention. There are simply some things we don’t know about COVID-19 such as how easily it spreads and how many patients may experience severe illness, and there is no available vaccine.

The symptoms reported with this disease are familiar to all of us: fever, cough and shortness of breath. We know there are common-sense steps that can help prevent these kinds of illnesses from spreading (Let’s Stop the Spread of Germs- from the Society for Human Resource Management):

• Avoid close contact with sick people.
• While sick, limit contact with others as much as possible.
• Stay home if sick. The CDC recommends that employees who have symptoms of acute respiratory illness stay home and not come to work until they are free of fever (100.4° F [37.8° C] or greater using an oral thermometer), signs of a fever, and any other symptoms for at least 24 hours, without the use of fever-reducing or other symptom-altering medicines (e.g. cough suppressants). As always, employees should notify their supervisor as soon as possible at the start of the workday and stay home if they are sick. Please refer to Board Policies 7400 Communicable Diseases, 5430 Family and Medical Leave. and 5410 Staff Sick Leave. For questions, contact Human Resources Director, Jill Anderson.
• Cover nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing. Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth. Germs spread this way.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces and objects that may be contaminated with germs. The CDC recommends that employees routinely clean all frequently touched surfaces in the workplace, such as workstations, countertops, and doorknobs. Use the cleaning agents that are provided by the Physical Plant (contact Mary Ford, 754-6202) which are typically used in these areas and follow the directions on the Instructions/Material Safety Data Sheets.
• Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub with at least 60 percent alcohol. Here’s the video we shared with students on hand washing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IisgnbMfKvI
• Share facts about COVID-19 to help prevent stigma. In our recent College Council meeting on 3/3/19, the topic of social stigma was brought up as a possible concern for our students and employees. While we have had no reported incidents, please help educate others that diseases can make anyone sick regardless of their race or ethnicity. Share facts about COVID-19 to help prevent stigma.

Also, please refer to these general fact sheets from the CDC to help our students, staff, faculty, and their families understand COVID-19 and the steps they can take to protect themselves:

• What you need to know about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
• What to do if you are sick with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
• Stop the spread of germs – help prevent the spread of respiratory viruses like COVID-19

Coronavirus information and Wyoming updates can be found at https://health.wyo.gov/publichealth/infectious-disease-epidemiology-unit/disease/novel-coronavirus/. If you are interested in receiving our future news releases, you can sign up here: https://health.wyo.gov/news/.

With Spring Break coming up, we also ask you to pay attention to special travel recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which can be found at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/.

Our most important piece of advice right now is for people to stay informed about COVID-19 and to look for updates and recommendations from credible sources such as the Wyoming Department of Health and the CDC.

Should you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at x 6401 or Marneé Crawford at x 6474.

Regards,

Jill