CCG Newsletter Issue N°7                                                         February 28, 2020   http://cascocg.com

THE STORMY WEATHER SHIELD

How is your team preparing for the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and its effect on your Business Continuity? 

Do you have a Pandemic Response Plan in place?

Here are some questions that might help you to get started.

• Do I have a plan to face this potential crisis? (having a plan means having it documented, communicated, tested and performed)  

• How could this crisis affect my business? What could be a worst case scenario?

• What could employees and contractors need? Could a company operate safely within this scenario?

• What could happen to business whether employees/contractors were unable to show up at the work site?

• Is the Company prepared to handle employees to work remotely? What do they need to be prepared?

Please remember one of the key concepts of the Response Philosophy and do not hesitate to OVERREACT.

It is better to stand down than to scale up

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Situation Summary

 Source: CDC Center for Disease Control and Prevention, February 25th. 2020.

An outbreak of respiratory disease caused by a novel (new) coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China and which has now been detected in 37 locations internationally. The virus has been named “SARS-CoV-2” and the disease it causes has been named “coronavirus disease 2019” (abbreviated “COVID-19”). On January 30, 2020, the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee of the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern” (PHEIC).

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are common in many different species of animals, including camels, cattle, cats, and bats. Rarely, animal coronaviruses can infect people and then spread between people. Person-to-person spread has been reported outside China, including in the United States and other locations. In addition, other destinations have apparent community spread, meaning some people have been infected who are not sure how or where they became infected.

The fact that this disease has caused illness, including illness resulting in death, and sustained person-to-person spread is concerning. These factors meet two of the criteria of a pandemic. As community spread is detected in more and more countries, the world moves closer toward meeting the third criteria, worldwide spread of the new virus.

Widespread transmission of COVID-19 would translate into large numbers of people needing medical care at the same time. Schools, childcare centers, workplaces, and other places for mass gatherings may experience more absenteeism. Public health and healthcare systems may become overloaded, with elevated rates of hospitalizations. Health care providers and hospitals may be overwhelmed. At this time, there is no vaccine to protect against COVID-19. Global efforts at this time are focused concurrently on containing spread of this virus and mitigating the impact of this virus.