The recent emergence of the COVID-19 Delta variant has brought with it a new set of challenges for employers and their employees. The rise in the number of people contracting the disease has led to a spike in the number of people needing to cancel or reschedule their business plans. As Federal health officials struggle to contain the disease, the Delta variant has become the fastest spreading outbreak in history.
The highly contagious Delta variant of Covid-19 is causing infections and hospitalizations to rise again in the United States. The disease is even spreading in areas with high vaccination rates. In this scenario, it is difficult for employers to protect their employees and customers from this pandemic.
However, as the virus has evolved, organizations have honed their approaches to keep infections in check. Employers are abiding to be creative, adaptive, and flexible in their approaches so that they can contain the menace now and manage other outbreaks as they emerge.
Here are a few broad measures the organizations can apply.
Encourage Vaccination
Vaccinations are an effective way of preventing the spread of serious illness, hospitalization, or death from this infectious Delta variant. Employers have astoundingly been encouraging their employees to get vaccinated. Making vaccination easy is a reason for increasing vaccination adoption among employees who are not highly motivated. Worksite vaccination is really convenient.
Mandate Vaccination
The realization that the risk of Coronavirus infection will persist for a long period has increased employer interest in mandating the workers to get vaccinated to perform their works on site.
Reduce Exposure through Social Distancing
As companies continue to use remote working and flexible schedules, they are becoming more aware of the need for employees to maintain good health. This has helped to create adequate social distancing. Furthermore, organizations are transitioning remote workers back to the workplace slowly or on a staggered basis to reinforce safety as they embrace new ways of working. Organizations can use behavioral economics methods to push workers to maintain social distancing at the workplace.
Improve Ventilation
Ventilation impacts transmission and increases the amount of air that is exchanged indoors. This reduces the possibility of infection in the worksite. Improving ventilation does not always need expensive remodelings. A lot of workplaces add more air exchanges by improving the filtration systems on existing air-managing systems, and some can just open windows.
Wear Masks
Masks protect from both being infected with Covid-19 and from infecting others. The CDC (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recommends that all unvaccinated and vaccinated people wear masks when they are with others.
Final Words
The Delta variant is a real concern. It is important to stay on top of the latest news and updates so that your organization can be prepared. There is still much to be discovered about the variant, but there are many resources available to you, including the CDC’s website and social media accounts, to help understand the virus.
Following the past incident, it’s clear to me that we need to take a different approach to Delta variants. We should prepare for the next global pandemic by getting people to think about how we can help each other. We can do this by focusing on the potential harm, as well as our better angels. To do that, we should be prepared to both laud and blame those who do well or poorly.
To know more about the guidelines for COVID-19, attend the Compliance Prime webinar.
