What is Covia doing about COVID-19?

Covia has been carefully monitoring the situation around Covia-19, also called Coronavirus,  since COVID-19 has the potential to be far more dangerous for older adults. We will be providing regular updates on https://covia.org/covid-19-response-and-resources/. 

As the news about COVID-19 spreads as fast or faster than the virus itself, we wanted to share the steps that Covia is taking to prevent viral infections – not just COVID-19, but the flu, pneumonia, and other diseases.

What Covia is doing:

Covia is experienced in providing infection control. Each Life Plan/Multi-Level Community has a dedicated Infection Preventionist on staff, responsible for developing a community response plan built on best practices and current recommendations. In the current situation, each community is following the local, state and federal health authority guidance on prevention, case definition, surveillance, treatment and facility response related to COVID-19.

All Covia staff are trained regularly on injury and illness prevention. Each year, Covia provides flu shots to staff free of charge or reimburses staff who receive the flu vaccine. Although no vaccine currently exists for COVID-19, Covia is providing staff with additional resources related to preventing the spread of the virus, and taking extra care to ensure that staff stay home when they are sick.

Finally, Covia’s Risk and Clinical team members are in contact with public health officials and provide regular updates and information to leaders throughout the organization. Sources include the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and others.

What you can do:

Here are steps each of us can take now to prevent the spread of Coronavirus or other viral infections, and to respond appropriately in case of an outbreak.

Please take ordinary precautions:

• Wash hands regularly, taking at least 20 seconds to wash with soap and water. Keep water running while you lather your hands and turn off the faucet with a disposable towel. Wash your hand towels frequently.
• Avoid touching your eyes, mouth, and nose. If you are in the habit of touching your face regularly, or notice yourself doing so, please keep an alcohol based hand rub of at least 60% alcohol content available to clean your hands regularly.
• Clean high touch surfaces such as phones, door handles, keyboards, and hand rails with antibacterial/virucide cleansers. Consider using your knuckle or elbow to summon elevators.
• Maintain “social distances”of a few feet near people who are coughing or sneezing.

If you are the person who is coughing or sneezing, please note: Many people have reported a mild case of Coronavirus, believing it is only the cold or flu. It is important for the health and safety of others to take even mild upper respiratory infections seriously.

• Think through how you can take care of sick family members while trying not to get infected, such as setting up separate sleeping area or dedicated spaces for the person who is sick.
• If you have a fever or are otherwise sick, please stay home and get medical attention. If you go out while sick, consider wearing a facemask.
• Cough or sneeze into the crook of your arm or cover your mouth and nose with a disposable facial tissue. Dispose of used tissues promptly.

With everyone’s efforts, we can significantly reduce the chance of spreading COVID-19 or other viruses. Thank you for your help and cooperation – and we wish you good health!