The Iowa Department of Public Health and Greene County Public Health have some reminders for businesses to keep in mind when dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak.

To help prevent the spread of the virus, businesses should consider staggering shifts to reduce the number of workers at a given time, along with staggering breaks for as little staff interaction as possible. Businesses should also encourage employees to wear cloth masks to work and provide hand sanitizer as much as possible.

To detect if the virus is present in a workplace, take every employee’s temperature when they first enter the workplace and assess for coughs, sore throats and difficulty breathing at the end of every shift. If an employee reports having a fever or respiratory symptoms, excuse them to stay home and isolate themselves until there is no fever for at least 72 hours without medication, other symptoms improve and it’s been at least seven days since the symptoms first appeared. 

Businesses are encouraged to continue to work with public health and your occupational health provider for a pathway to test for symptomatic employees. If an employee is getting worse, have them contact their healthcare provider for further guidance.