\n
During these meetings with the Safety and Health Representatives one of the most common questions directed at union representatives from members is \u00a0about COVID-19 being trans\u00admitted on surfaces. The CDC has a Frequently Asked Questions page on the virus where this is addressed:<\/p>\n
There is still a lot that is unknown about the newly emerged COVID-19 and how it spreads. Two other coronaviruses have emerged previously to cause severe illness in people (MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV). The virus that causes COVID-19 is more genetically related to SARS-CoV than MERS-CoV, but both are betacoronaviruses with their origins in bats. While we don\u2019t know for sure that this virus will behave the same way as SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, we can use the information gained from both of these earlier coronaviruses to guide us.<\/em><\/p>\nIn general, because of poor survivability of these coronaviruses on surfaces, there is likely very low risk of spread from products or packag\u00ading that are shipped over a period of days or weeks at ambient temperatures. Coronaviruses are gener\u00adally thought to be spread most often by respiratory droplets. Currently there is no evidence to support transmission of COVID-19 associated with im\u00adported goods and there have not been any cases of COVID-19 in the United States associated with imported goods.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
PREVENT VIRUS SPREAD<\/h3>\n<\/h3>\n\n
\n
The most effective method to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is frequent handwashing, use of hand sanitizer of at least 60% alcohol, and\u00a0staying home from work when you are sick<\/strong>.<\/p>\nAlong with these the Postal Service has said they will be implementing additional cleaning and sanitizing of facilities and work stations. They will be providing hand sanitizer in facilities to include customer areas.<\/p>\n
The additional cleaning will be in line with what was done during the 2009 H1N1 (swine flu) pan\u00addemic. Management issued a new\u00a0MMO-031-20 Influenza and Coronavirus Cleaning Continge<\/em>ncy. This Maintenance Management Order (MMO) should be in effect now, and the APWU is currently reviewing it to ensure it is sufficient. The APWU requested that the current clean\u00ading solutions under the MS-47 TL-5 be temporar\u00adily changed to chemicals previously used to better ensure disinfection of work areas.<\/p>\n\u201cNo one can take COVID-19 lightly,\u201d President Dimondstein said. \u201cWe will be working diligent\u00adly and unleash all necessary resources to keep our members informed and protected. The health and safety of all postal workers is our top priority and we insist it be the Postal Service\u2019s priority as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no question that this must be a con\u00adcern to all workers and everyone in this country,\u201d said Industrial Relations Director Vance Zimmer\u00adman. \u201cWe will provide you information and guidance as it develops.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a fluid situation and new things will be learned as COVID-19 progresses and the researchers learn more,\u201d Director Zimmerman continued. \u201cKeep washing your hands and please follow the rest of the CDC’s guidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each post office and distribution center \u2013 no matter the size \u2013 should:<\/p>\n
\n- Have all the Stand Up talks,<\/li>\n
- Post\u00a0the CDC posters as required by USPS headquarters,<\/li>\n
- Getting an adequate sup\u00adply of gloves and masks. Having hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
If this is not happening in your workplace, please contact your local or state organization that can reach out to their Na\u00adtional Business Agents and the Regional Coordi\u00adnator to address the issue. The Postal Service has committed to these issues being quickly addressed and rectified.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
March 4, 2020 The coronavirus, officially named COVID-19, originating in China, has now spread to over 65 countries including to the United States. The APWU is continuing to monitor the situation and is in constant contact with the USPS about COVID-19. The Postal Service informed the APWU on Feb. 29, 2020, that an employee tested positive for the virus. Last week, the APWU initiated a meeting with USPS leadership to discuss their response to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[12,64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-apwu-news","category-covid-19"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apwu73.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apwu73.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apwu73.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apwu73.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apwu73.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4207"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/apwu73.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4293,"href":"https:\/\/apwu73.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4207\/revisions\/4293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apwu73.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apwu73.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apwu73.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}