Manager Guidance on COVID-19

[Poirier, Michael]

HI Everyone,

Here are guidelines from the university on what to do if someone is sick or has test positive for COVID-19.

I will work with Ruth to figure out where to post this for reference.

I hope you all are having a great weekend!

Michael

Manager Guidance - What to do if someone on-site develops symptoms or reports that they’ve been exposed to someone with COVID-19 or if they’ve tested positive for COVID-19
We have had a few inquiries about how to handle a situation where an employee in a lab or studio develops symptoms on-site or reports that they’ve tested positive after recently being on-site.  Here are the key steps for managers:


  1.  Instruct the individual to contact their primary care physician if they are experiencing symptoms of respiratory illness consistent with coronavirus, have been exposed to an individual with coronavirus symptoms or have been diagnosed with the virus. If they are unable to reach their primary care physician, direct them to call the Wexner Medical Center's COVID-19 call center at (614) 293-4000.


  1.  If you receive a report, confirmed or unconfirmed, that a member of your team has been exposed to or has contracted coronavirus, connect with your HR Business Professional<http://e.osu.edu/eoa/W4gG59iX9W/> and call the Wexner Medical Center's COVID-19 call center at (614) 293-4000 for guidance on what you should do. At the beginning of the call, let them know whether you work on the academic side of the university or within the medical center. There are different protocols for medical center units requiring additional activities related to the patient care environment.


  1.  The Wexner Medical Center's COVID-19 call center will collect information about the case and will initiate work between the individual with a possible/confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis, the university and the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) to determine what action is needed and how to handle communications to others in the workplace (as well as the individual’s home/personal life) depending on the specific situation.


  1.  Advise other students or employees in the immediate area (e.g., laboratory, studio or shared office space) that someone has reported symptoms or tested positive and ask these students or employees to go home, self-quarantine and follow the directions in #1 above. Advise those staff members that they may receive a call from a contact tracer (from the Wexner Medical Center or ODH).  As a manager, you are not responsible for contact tracing.  Inform your employees that you will work with FOD to initiate disinfecting and you will let them know when the area has been disinfected and it is safe to return to campus. Advise your students and employees that they should continue to closely monitor their symptoms and if they have any questions they should reach out to their personal physician.

Please remember: If you learn of a possible case, do not share the person's name or health information with colleagues. This would be a violation of their privacy, and this information is protected by HIPAA and other laws. In the face of this unprecedented pandemic, we must rely on regional public health officials to continue to investigate cases and trace potential contacts.


  1.  Contact your FOD zone leader for information about COVID-specific disinfecting.  Also, attached is a list of companies which can provide COVID cleaning and disinfecting if you determine that you would like additional cleaning/disinfecting after working with FOD.

For additional manager guidance or questions, please contact your HR Business Professional<http://e.osu.edu/eoa/W4gG59iX9W/>.


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Michael G. Poirier, Professor and Chair
Department of Physics, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry (by courtesy)
Ohio State University, 1040 Physics Research Building
191 West Woodruff Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210-1117
Office: 2140 Physics Research Building, Labs: 2135 & 2147 Physics Research Building
email: poirier.18 at osu.edu, http://u.osu.edu/poirierlab/
Phone: (614) 247-4493 (Office), (614) 688-0742 (Labs), Fax: (614) 292-7557
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