ESMCorp Technical Blog: Corona Virus Bulletin (March 2, 2020)

Dr. Lynch prepares technical Corona Virus Bulletin

Fill out the form below the summary to get access to the full ESMCorp Technical Corona Virus Bulletin

Corona Virus Technical Bulletin – March 2, 2020
Richard M. Lynch, Ph.D., CIH – President Environmental Safety Management Corporation
www.esmcorp.com

Based upon information through March 2, 2020

At the request of our clients, I have compiled information related to background information, prevention,
and response actions which our clients should consider in the event that potential cases of the newly
discovered Novel Corona Virus impacts their workplace. The information contained within this summary
comes from publicly available sources including the CDC, NJ Department of Health, OSHA and others,
in concert with my work as a Certified Industrial Hygienist and doctoral training in Public Health, and
Epidemiology. Please consider this document as a working draft, as the publicly available information is
changing rapidly. Hyperlinks Links to official sources are contained herein to assist those seeking more
information which is continually being updated.

• In reviewing this information and considering your approaches, I stress that all ESMCorp clients
  remember the following overriding principles:
  Person to person (community) transmission is occurring, and there is a potential for transmission
  from contaminated surfaces, however full understanding of transmission routes is not yet known.
• A full understanding of clinical severity and transmission rate is not yet known.
• Early symptoms are similar to and may be indistinguishable from typical flu and cold symptoms
• Persons with symptoms should take steps to reduce risk of spreading any possible infections and
  seek medical evaluation by a physician. The physician may recommend a period of isolation to
  reduce the potential for spreading disease to others in close contact.
• Medical diagnosis and patient confidentiality may be subject to Health Information Privacy
  Regulations, which must be respected.
• Organizations should not stigmatize persons based on race, ethnicity or other factors
• There are no current vaccinations or medicines available as of February 2020 and current
  projections suggest that none will exist for at least 1 year.
• Prevention, hand hygiene and environmental management (Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions)
  are the best-known strategies for reducing transmission and severity as of the time of this writing.

Our recommendations for workplace management are contained in section IV of this Bulletin.
I will provide updates as more information becomes available.

Sincerely,
Richard M. Lynch, Ph.D., CIH, CMC, CMRS, CHFM
Certified Industrial Hygienist
Certified Microbial Consultant
Certified Microbial Remediation Supervisor
Certified Healthcare Facility Manager
NJ Licensed Indoor Environmental Consultant
President – Environmental Safety Management Corporation