COVID-19 Safety Guidance - CA’s New Emergency Standards and Safety Reminders

Author: Human Resources
Date: 12/10/2020 9:40:32 AM

Protecting you and your co-workers from COVID-19 is a top priority for the County. We continue to take action to ensure a safe workplace and we appreciate your diligence in doing your part every day to protect one another and the people we serve. As part of its continued effort to keep you informed, HR’s safety team will send regular emails to all employees while COVID-19 remains a significant health risk. Today’s message provides information about California’s Limited Stay at Home Order announced Thursday, December 3, and reminders about the County’s Covid-19 safety protocols.

California’s Limited Stay at Home Order
You may be wondering about the Regional Stay At Home Order, issued by the Governor on December 3^rd and effective today, and how it affects our operations. The order is intended to curb the spread the COVID to prevent cases from surging beyond hospital capacity. Our region (Southern California) is subject to the terms of the new order if Intensive Care Unit capacity at the region’s hospitals reaches 15% or less. While the County of SLO’s hospital capacity remains excellent, our region is now below 15%.

How Will County of SLO Operations Be Impacted?

The County will continue to operate as we have since we are Critical Infrastructure. In keeping with prior direction, telecommuting is still encouraged, and Department Heads have the authority to determine whether remote working is appropriate for their staff.

Front counters remain open and continue to follow the guidance provided by the State for retail stores. All County front counters should remain open at this time.

The situation is dynamic. Please watch for related communication as we navigate the pandemic together.

County COVID-19 Safety Protocols

We’ve all heard and read plenty of guidance on how to protect ourselves and others, but as the number of cases increase across California and locally and the pandemic wears on, we would like to remind you of the basics and direct you again to our web-based resources.

Face Coverings

Unless you are exempt from the Face Covering requirements or are alone in a room*, you must wear a mask while indoors at work or are outdoors and cannot maintain 6 feet of distance from others.

*Employees in cubicles with three walls that are at least 5 feet high may remove their mask at times when working in the cubicle sitting down and not talking.

Distancing

6 feet – the minimum guidance to be maintained between and others not in your household.
Virtual meetings – please avoid in person meetings and other gatherings
Telework – we encourage people to work from home if their position allows (at the determination and approval of the Department Head)

Wash Your Hands

Regularly, with soap and water, and use hand sanitizer when hand washing is not practical.

What to Do If You Have COVID -19 Symptoms

If you are experiencing one or more of the symptoms commonly associated with COVID that you cannot attribute to another known/diagnosed condition, you must stay home, notify your supervisor, and answer "yes" to the symptoms listed on your daily health screening. With cold and flu season upon us, please do not self-diagnose or assume your symptoms are not COVID-related.

What to Do If You Think You May Have Been Exposed to COVID-19

If you think you may have been exposed to COVID, please contact the Public Health Liaison at 805-781-5500 for further direction.

If Public Health determines that you may have been exposed, they will quarantine you for between 10 and 14 days.

Vehicles

Avoid sharing a vehicle with someone from a different household. If circumstances require that you share a vehicle, maximize distance between others in the vehicle and ride with your windows down. Please wipe down high-touch surfaces between use.

County Re-opening Toolkit

For more information, we encourage you to visit our Re-opening Toolkit web page.

Please contact your supervisor, your department safety rep, or HR’s Countywide safety team (ext. 5959 or [email protected]) if you have any questions. Your safety rep is listed here: https://myslo/DepartmentsNew/Human-Resources/Safety/Department-Specific-Safety-Programs.aspx.

Together, we can slow the spread of COVID-19 in SLO County.

Thank you,

Human Resources – Countywide Safety

[email protected]