There is a lot of media attention around this virus, there is also a large amount of scaring and hysteria attached.
As an employer, we take the health and safety of the team very seriously and will do everything we can to ensure that our team, our members and our partners are not in any way placed in an environment that may put their and others health at risk. We are operating on a business as normal approach.
The facts are 600 people are known to have the virus out of a 65 million population, which highlights the scale of the virus currently. We believe businesses need to work together and do everything possible to support other businesses and where possible we need to take a sensible but business as normal approach. We have seen a fall in the stock market and businesses are reporting anything from 20-30% down turn in customers and bookings, this will cause many business years of harm.
Our team have been given the following information
Signs and symptoms of COVID-19
The following symptoms may develop in the 14 days after exposure to someone who has COVID-19 infection:
- cough
- difficulty in breathing
- fever
Generally, these infections can cause more severe symptoms in people with weakened immune systems, older people, and those with long-term conditions like diabetes, cancer and chronic lung disease.
How COVID-19 is spread
From what is known about other coronaviruses, spread of COVID-19 is most likely to happen when there is close contact (within 2 metres or less) with an infected person. It is likely that the risk increases the longer someone has close contact with an infected person.
Respiratory secretions produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes containing the virus are most likely to be the main means of transmission.
There are 2 main routes by which people can spread COVID-19:
- infection can be spread to people who are nearby (within 2 metres) or possibly could be inhaled into the lungs.
- it is also possible that someone may become infected by touching a surface, object or the hand of an infected person that has been contaminated with respiratory secretions and then touching their own mouth, nose, or eyes (such as touching door knob or shaking hands then touching own face)
There is currently little evidence that people who are without symptoms are infectious to others.
PREVENTING CONTAMINATION
Currently we will continue running our events but need to minimise the risk of spreading the infection as there is currently no vaccine to prevent COVID-19. The best way to prevent infection is to avoid being exposed to the virus.
Public Health England (PHE) recommends that the following general cold and flu precautions are taken to help you from catching and spreading COVID-19, we strongly advise that you take notice and act upon this advise:
- cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze. Catch it, Bin it, Kill it
- put used tissues in a bin straight away
- wash your hands with soap and water often – use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available.
- try to avoid close contact with people who are unwell
- clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces
- do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth if your hands are not clean
Our Team
All of our team, have been given guidelines of how they need operate, they are fully aware of what they should do in the event they develop the symptoms or come in to contact with anyone who may have the symptoms.
Our Approach To Business Meetings
In order to operate, there are various on line video sharing conference call tools that can be used:
Zoom
Google Hangouts
Skype
Where restrictions on face to face meetings apply our team are happy to carry these out on-line
Our Live events
Lunches/college tours
As of today, the government are not restricting travel or meetings in groups, so as far as we are concerned our networking lunches and college tours are going ahead. We appreciate this information may change and we are keeping a watchful eye on the latest advice and will adopt this as best practice.
Attendees/Sponsors
All attendees will be asked to ensure that if they have any symptoms or have come into contact with anyone who think may have or has had the virus to not attend. Where this applies to a sponsor please send an alternative representative. In both cases please notify us as soon as possible.
The Venue
We are working with the venue to ensure their team operate under the same guidelines that we are.
Housekeeping for the event
- On arrival please wash your hands before you sign in
- There will be no handshakes at any lunches/meetings/debates
- The venue will provide hand sanitiser for use throughout the meal/event
- For Networking Canapes snacks will be served at the table rather than during the networking
We feel it is vitality important to support restaurants and businesses during what is a very difficult time, we believe that if we operate sensibly and in-line with the advice we are given, we can all go about our business and keep trading. Please help us and support the restaurants and our partners by being vigilant and working with us on the details above.
Our on-line Platform
One last point, whether our audience are at work or self-isolating here are some statics to share with you on our traffic year on year
- Users up by 89%
- Visits up by 105%
- Page views up by over 300%
- Pages per session up by over 100%
- Bounce down by over 90%
Chefs are using The Staff Canteen more than ever before!
