Coronavirus safety for retail workers and the people they live with?
March 19, 2020 7:41 AM Subscribe
My partner is still working outside the home and will be for the foreseeable future. I may have an underlying condition. How do we mitigate our coronavirus risk?
I'm (42F) lucky enough to be working from home, but my husband (48M) still has to go out and work his two retail jobs for a total of about 40 hours a week. Both of the places he works are considered essential and unlikely to close down at any point during the current plague. I know we are lucky not to be losing income (and we can't really afford to), but I'm honestly terrified he's going to catch it. He's very healthy but there are new reports out now that many younger, previously heathy people are being hospitalized. I'm generally healthy too and rarely get colds/flus but am asthmatic and control my asthma with an inhaled corticosteroid. I'm worried that makes me one of the "underlying conditions" people and that the medication I need to take for my asthma, may make my situation worse if I catch the virus.
What are the best ways for him to stay safe at work apart from washing his hands and keeping away from people as much as possible (hard to do in retail)? Should we be taking precautions at home? If he is sick, I always end up catching it. Should we cut out as much physical contact as posssible, have me do all the cooking, sleep separately? Maybe ask him to take a shower when he comes home? There seems to be literally NO advice on this kind of situation on the internet, but maybe I'm googling wrong.
I'm (42F) lucky enough to be working from home, but my husband (48M) still has to go out and work his two retail jobs for a total of about 40 hours a week. Both of the places he works are considered essential and unlikely to close down at any point during the current plague. I know we are lucky not to be losing income (and we can't really afford to), but I'm honestly terrified he's going to catch it. He's very healthy but there are new reports out now that many younger, previously heathy people are being hospitalized. I'm generally healthy too and rarely get colds/flus but am asthmatic and control my asthma with an inhaled corticosteroid. I'm worried that makes me one of the "underlying conditions" people and that the medication I need to take for my asthma, may make my situation worse if I catch the virus.
What are the best ways for him to stay safe at work apart from washing his hands and keeping away from people as much as possible (hard to do in retail)? Should we be taking precautions at home? If he is sick, I always end up catching it. Should we cut out as much physical contact as posssible, have me do all the cooking, sleep separately? Maybe ask him to take a shower when he comes home? There seems to be literally NO advice on this kind of situation on the internet, but maybe I'm googling wrong.
You also might ask him to tell his boss he has an at risk person in the home. See if this moves his management to take any additional precautions. PPE (personal protective equipment) is scarce right now, but a good manager will be working hard to come up with solutions like not letting more than 10 people in at a time, setting up hand washing protocols, and enforcing 6 feet of distance between people in the store. These things are likely to become standard in businesses that stay open soon, so maybe your partner can ask his manager about it.
posted by pazazygeek at 8:24 AM on March 19, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by pazazygeek at 8:24 AM on March 19, 2020 [2 favorites]
Best answer: You also might ask him to tell his boss he has an at risk person in the home. See if this moves his management to take any additional precautions.
I'm a first line manager in retail. My employer will cover two weeks' pay if you're under mandatory quarantine or if you've been diagnosed with covid-19, but outside of those two circumstances the best I can do is give people the option not to come in if they're not comfortable. They can use any accrued sick or personal leave they have to offset the loss of income. Attendance policy will not be enforced (so there will be no consequences for missed work, just a more stressful day for me since I've got one fewer person on the clock during a busy time. That said, these days are all stressful for everyone and I'm trying to make sure I reduce stress for myself and others as much as possible).
We've got a few people with compromised immune systems who are not coming in for that reason, and a few elderly team members who just aren't comfortable because exposure for them means elevated risk. We're just working on scheduling the rest of the team to cover those shifts. We've got gloves for everybody, lots of places to wash hands, hand sanitizer dispensers, and now payroll hours dedicated to cleaning high touch surfaces, which benefits everybody in the building and not just customers or employees.
But yeah, my wife and I assume I'm going to be exposed. I take my temperature every morning when I get out of bed (and my wife takes hers), but because I have to keep going to work she's taking social distancing very seriously. If you have a guest bed you could sleep separately, and you could try to avoid sharing small rooms (maybe don't brush your teeth at the same time … like we do). There's currently no evidence that an infection would be transmitted through properly prepared food. We haven't made any effort to keep me out of the kitchen, although my wife is doing more cooking than usual simply because she's home more. Keep your high touch surfaces at home clean, and make sure you allow disinfectants to sit on those surfaces for at least one minute (some guidance says three) before you wipe them off, or better yet just let them air dry.
posted by fedward at 10:01 AM on March 19, 2020 [2 favorites]
I'm a first line manager in retail. My employer will cover two weeks' pay if you're under mandatory quarantine or if you've been diagnosed with covid-19, but outside of those two circumstances the best I can do is give people the option not to come in if they're not comfortable. They can use any accrued sick or personal leave they have to offset the loss of income. Attendance policy will not be enforced (so there will be no consequences for missed work, just a more stressful day for me since I've got one fewer person on the clock during a busy time. That said, these days are all stressful for everyone and I'm trying to make sure I reduce stress for myself and others as much as possible).
We've got a few people with compromised immune systems who are not coming in for that reason, and a few elderly team members who just aren't comfortable because exposure for them means elevated risk. We're just working on scheduling the rest of the team to cover those shifts. We've got gloves for everybody, lots of places to wash hands, hand sanitizer dispensers, and now payroll hours dedicated to cleaning high touch surfaces, which benefits everybody in the building and not just customers or employees.
But yeah, my wife and I assume I'm going to be exposed. I take my temperature every morning when I get out of bed (and my wife takes hers), but because I have to keep going to work she's taking social distancing very seriously. If you have a guest bed you could sleep separately, and you could try to avoid sharing small rooms (maybe don't brush your teeth at the same time … like we do). There's currently no evidence that an infection would be transmitted through properly prepared food. We haven't made any effort to keep me out of the kitchen, although my wife is doing more cooking than usual simply because she's home more. Keep your high touch surfaces at home clean, and make sure you allow disinfectants to sit on those surfaces for at least one minute (some guidance says three) before you wipe them off, or better yet just let them air dry.
posted by fedward at 10:01 AM on March 19, 2020 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I am still going in to work as part of the team trying to get everyone else offsite.
Echoing pazazygeek regarding the containment zone. I don't take my coat or bag or shoes into the main part of the house. I take off all of my exterior clothes in the mudroom and put them straight into the washer, disinfect my phone, wash my hands and face immediately, put my hair up if it's been down. The kids know not to touch me when I come in. If I'm working from home in the evenings, I use a different device so I'm not using the laptop that was on my desk at work all day. I am taking my temperature multiple times per day. Currently I'm the only one using our car so have not done anything differently. I generally don't cook anyway, and my husband and I are not sleeping separately yet.
These are the same steps we took when our daughter was born prematurely and in isolation her first two winters. We were trying to protect against RSV which has an R0 of 3, so about equivalent to COVID and just as dangerous to a preemie. These steps were very effective then - we were told to expect two hospitalizations per year but had zero.
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 10:55 AM on March 19, 2020
Echoing pazazygeek regarding the containment zone. I don't take my coat or bag or shoes into the main part of the house. I take off all of my exterior clothes in the mudroom and put them straight into the washer, disinfect my phone, wash my hands and face immediately, put my hair up if it's been down. The kids know not to touch me when I come in. If I'm working from home in the evenings, I use a different device so I'm not using the laptop that was on my desk at work all day. I am taking my temperature multiple times per day. Currently I'm the only one using our car so have not done anything differently. I generally don't cook anyway, and my husband and I are not sleeping separately yet.
These are the same steps we took when our daughter was born prematurely and in isolation her first two winters. We were trying to protect against RSV which has an R0 of 3, so about equivalent to COVID and just as dangerous to a preemie. These steps were very effective then - we were told to expect two hospitalizations per year but had zero.
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 10:55 AM on March 19, 2020
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Do you have a thermometer? Both of you should take your temps 2x a day.
I'm not sure you should sleep separately or isolate in your home, but you could consider it. The current thinking is that there are many young people without symptoms spreading the virus, but totally self isolating may be extreme. It would be safer, though. The data from China suggests that it spreads best in poorly ventilated spaces and amongst families.
posted by pazazygeek at 8:21 AM on March 19, 2020 [5 favorites]