See below for our recommended communication to residents regarding potential or actual COVID-19 infections in your community.  Please do the following:

  1. Read through carefully and make sure that this message makes sense and works for your building
  2. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate names or departments
  3. Once you have edited, get approval from your board to distribute to your residents and owners
  4. Once you have board approval, send to your residents and owners

In addition, please take the following steps with your team:

  • Coordinate with your janitorial team about sanitization of the ingress and egress of any quarantined person
  • Give instructions to your team about deliveries to quarantined units.  They are not to enter units and they are to leave deliveries at the door – notifying the resident of the deliveries by phone.
  • Give instruction to your team about trash removal from quarantined units.  Quarantined residents should leave bags of trash outside their door and notify your team to pick up.  Team members should retrieve the bags of trash when notified, using new gloves and disposing of gloves immediately after disposal of trash.
  • Team members should not be entering quarantined units except in emergency. In an emergency, team members should only enter a unit if they can maintain social distance of 6 feet.  
  • It would be appropriate to also restrict team members from entering any unit at this time, unless in an emergency.

Here is the recommended email to residents:

Dear Resident – 

The highest priority for your management team and Board of Directors is to do what we can to preserve the health and safety of the residents, guests and team members in this building.  With that in mind, we have established protocols to respond to potential and actual infections of the COVID-19 virus in this building. The following protocols and steps are built around recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).  Here is what you should know:

Identification of Potential or Actual Infections:

Based on the criteria provided by the CDC, if you have or potentially have been infected by the COVID-19 virus, please notify General Manager FILL IN:  GENERAL MANAGER NAME in the Management office FILL IN:  GENERAL MANAGER NAME will respect your privacy and identity, but will be able to take steps to assist you and to implement precautionary and preventative measures for the community as a whole.  

The following is the criteria from the CDC.  If you fit any of this criteria, please contact FILL IN:  GENERAL MANAGER NAME:

  • You have traveled within the past 14 days to any of the CDC Risk Level 3 countries, which currently include: 
    • China
    • Iran
    • South Korea
    • Europe
  • You know that you have been in direct contact with a person who has contracted COVID-19
  • You have symptoms of the COVID-19 infection and you do not have a diagnosis from a medical professional.  Symptoms include: 
    • Fever
    • Cough
    • Shortness of Breath
  • You have a confirmed diagnosis from a medical professional for a COVID-19 infection

Management Response to Identified Residents:  

Direction from the CDC is that anyone who fits the above criteria should be quarantined for at least 14 days.   If you, or anyone in your household, fit this criteria, please self-quarantine in your home or, if possible, in another location.  

If anyone is to be quarantined in the building, please follow the following guidelines:

  • Notify the management office or _____________ of any need to leave your unit and when you will return.  If possible, a 30 minute notice will be helpful.  Our team will takes steps, if possible, to arrange for an isolated elevator for you to use.   We can also take steps to disinfect and sanitize any portions of the building that might be affected in the path of travel.
  • For garbage disposal, please schedule with management team to leave garbage bags outside your door.  We will arrange for disposal.
  • Coordinate with the management team for deliveries, packages and groceries that you may have arranged.  We will deliver to your door and leave items outside your door.  Please do not retrieve these items until we have left the area.
  • Note that our management team will not enter any units where there is a quarantine. If there is an emergency, we will take steps to follow CDC guidelines.

For all residents, we want to encourage you to call the management office or the front desk instead of coming in person whenever possible.  We want to all do our part to maintain social distancing.

We know that if you are under quarantine, it may be a time of heightened anxiety and concern for you.  We will do all we can to be helpful to you and compassionate about your situation.  At the same time, we want to take precautionary and preventative steps to protect other residents and our team so that we do not spread infections any further – and so that our team is able to continue to support you and all of the residents in the building.

These are quickly changing times and we will keep you updated as new information arises and if protocols need to be changed or augmented.  

Thank you.

March 16, 2020 – Protocol for Infections and Quarantines in a Building

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