Are you and your office ready for post-MCO? 18 questions from Dr Amar-Singh

We need to behave and act as though everyone around us is Covid-19 positive. We need to behave and act as though we have an asymptomatic infection of Covid-19 and can infect others. We need to protect all older persons as if they are our parents and all those vulnerable to Covid-19 as our sisters and brothers.

As you plan to return to the office, here is a checklist of some of the things you need to consider and prepare for:

1. How are you going to manage public transport?
2. Has your office prepared a clear standard operating policy (SOP) or checklist to minimise the risk of staff getting the virus or spreading it?
3. How is the office building going to limit the number of people who enter and leave when coming to work and going home?
4. Has your office thought about staggered working hours or work from home?
5. How is the office building going to handle lifts?
6. What are you going to do about the office air-conditioning?
7. How can we modify the open office environment?
8. How will you modify the office meeting?
9. How to avoid contamination of common used items?
10. How are you going to deal with the pantry, prayer areas and common staff areas?
11. Have you a plan for mask safety and changing masks?
12. What is the plan to limit staff socialising?
13. What is the policy for the toilets?
14. What is the new cleaning routine for the office?
15. How will we use gloves optimally?
16. What is the policy if someone is unwell?
17. How do we deal with travelling, site visits, conferences, etc?
18. Do you have a plan to minimise virus transmission to your family?

Read here (The Malay Mail, April 28, 2020)

McKinsey & Co: The phase of Return is in sight. But rapid Return comes with higher risk, and a new reality

Pages 29 to 55 of this 63-page McKinsey & Co report start with the following introduction:

• Weeks of shelter-in-place provisions globally have caused a deep economic challenge, straining governments’ ability to save lives while safeguarding livelihoods
• Governments are now considering options and timing for a gradual re-opening, with the US being the most recent announcement.
• Many of these re-openings are occurring in very different environments. Some geographies are considering opening after they have plateaued, while others are seeking to return after additional verifications are complete (e.g., hospital capacity, testing capacity, other)
• These variations are driving concerns within businesses around risks associated with a return-to-work, and whether these risks can be adequately managed
• Additionally, COVID-19 has changed many realities for businesses. Remote first may be a goal achievable in months, consumers have structurally adopted digital channels, and the prospect of the largest economic recession since the second World War could quickly challenge the business

The section goes on to discuss ‘Return planning’ which is relevant to all Malaysians as we enter the phase of conditional MCO.

Download the report here (McKinsey & Co, April 24, 2020)

Lift MCO on areas without new Covid-19 cases over 28 days: Ex-MOH official

‘The MCO can be lifted in white areas without testing, while maintaining strict border control, such as prohibiting entry to people from red or yellow zones, and preventing residents of white areas from visiting red or yellow zones. Covid-19 testing in white areas is unnecessary, Dr Lokman said, as the assumption is that the virus transmission has been broken. “In any scenario, you have got to make certain assumptions, i.e. the likelihood of transmission is active. When you test a person negative, you have to make the assumption that the likelihood that he is positive is very, very, very low, otherwise you will end up with testing all the time, which is ridiculous,” Dr Lokman told CodeBlue in an interview.’

Read here (Code Blue, April 24, 2020)

Everything we know about coronavirus immunity and antibodies — and plenty we still don’t

‘But as the tests roll out, some experts are trying to inject a bit of restraint into the excitement that the results of these tests could, for example, clear people to get back to work. Some antibody tests have not been validated, they warn. Even those that have been can still provide false results. And an accurate positive test may be hard to interpret: the virus is so new that researchers cannot say for sure what sort of results will signal immunity or how long that armor will last.

‘They caution that policymakers may be making sweeping economic and social decisions — plans to reopen businesses or schools, for example — based on limited data, assumptions, and what’s known about other viruses. President Trump last week unveiled a three-phased approach to reopen the country; he said some states that have seen declining case counts could start easing social distancing requirements immediately. And some authorities have raised the idea of granting “immunity passports” to people who recover from the virus to allow them to return to daily life without restrictions.’

Read here (STAT News, April 20, 2020)

Public health principles for a phased reopening during COVID-19: Guidance for US governors

‘This document provides an assessment of the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in a variety of organisations and settings that have been closed. We outline steps to reduce potential transmission during the reopening of these organisations and settings, building on the proposed phased approach from the National Coronavirus Response: A Road Map to Reopening. Reopening businesses and other sectors represents one of many steps that will need to be taken to revitalise communities recovering from the pandemic, restore economic activity, and mitigate the unintended public health impact of the distancing measures that were necessary to confront the epidemic of COVID-19. A discussion of larger community-wide considerations for holistically enhancing recovery can be found in the Appendix.’

Download here (John Hopkins Center for Health and Security, April 17, 2020)

Coronavirus will change the world permanently. Here’s how

‘A global, novel virus that keeps us contained in our homes—maybe for months—is already reorienting our relationship to government, to the outside world, even to each other. Some changes these experts expect to see in the coming months or years might feel unfamiliar or unsettling: Will nations stay closed? Will touch become taboo? What will become of restaurants?

‘But crisis moments also present opportunity: more sophisticated and flexible use of technology, less polarization, a revived appreciation for the outdoors and life’s other simple pleasures. No one knows exactly what will come, but here is our best stab at a guide to the unknown ways that society—government, healthcare, the economy, our lifestyles and more—will change.’

Read here (Politico, March 19, 2020)