3 Takeaways on Protecting Your Business from Covid-19 Experts

Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of watching the July 16th UCSF Medicine Grand Rounds on CoVID- 19 and how the SARS-CoV-2 virus is transmitted titled 

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“How the virus gets in, and how to block it: Aerosols, Droplets, Masks, Face Shields and more.”  The event was moderated by Bob Wachter, MD. 

In my view, it was one of the most informative grand rounds on SARS-CoV-2 transmission. As a business owner I have found deciphering the medical discussions of coronavirus and Covid-19 difficult. 

But with the help of my physician wife, we have taken a summary created by Dr. Julie Thompson, translated it into common English and pointed out areas that are likely to affect businesses as they reopen.  

To be clear SARS-CoV-2 is the name of the virus that causes CoVID-19.  For simplicity, I will use these two names interchangeably for the duration of this summary.

I have included some of my perceptions of the key takeaways affecting the public about COVID-19 transmission and prevention but I try to stay very close to the presented science based discussion. This, of course, does not constitute medical advice nor does it create a doctor-patient relationship between you (the reader) and me.  With that said, enjoy. 

A few of our takeaways:

• Covid-19 virus particles may spread via aerosolized form, increasing its ability to spread.
• Masks may protect both the community as well as the wearer by reducing the severity of the disease if you were to contract coronavirus.  It was previously believed and reported that masks did not protect the wearer. 
• You should strongly consider face shields as part of your prevention strategy

In short, organizations attempting to prevent a COVID-19 outbreak in the office, store, or school should employ universal masking AND face shields. Based on the research provided it appears as though these two together may reduce the risk of an outbreak spreading through your organization and, if people were to become infected, it is likely that their viral “dose” would be lower, which may lead to less severe infections.