23 Mar 2020

3/23/20: Health Policy Update for All Staff

In the interest of keeping all of us healthy and safe we would like to outline the policies about healthy workplace details:

  • If you have been out of state anytime on or after March 20th, you must self quarantine for 14 days upon arrival back in Alaska and monitor for symptoms of illness.
  • If you have been traveling within the state of Alaska and return from a community with known cases of COVID-19, you must self quarantine for 14 days upon arrival back to the Municipality of Anchorage and monitor for symptoms of illness.
  • If you have been sick with symptoms not related to COVID-19, you must excuse yourself from work for 3 days minimum. After 3 days from when you experience your last symptoms, you may speak to a manager about returning to work and a determination will be made on a case-by-case basis.
  • If you, or someone you have been in contact with, are sick and have had any of the symptoms related to COVID-19, you must be absent from work for a minimum of 7 days from the initial onset of symptoms and may not return to work until you are fever free and have no respiratory symptoms for 3 days. At that point you may speak to a manager about returning to work and a determination will be made on a case-by-case basis.
  • Do not come to work if you think you may be sick and alert a manager immediately. Keep those germs to yourself and rest up!
  • Do not come to work if you do not feel safe. There is nothing wrong with considering the health of yourself and your family first.
  • Practice social distancing between yourself and other coworkers whenever possible (6 feet is ideal whenever you can make that happen). Many situations in our workplace make social distancing difficult or unrealistic so please do your best to the extent possible. Activities like hugging, shaking hands, high fives, and sharing beverages are not okay.
  • Wear a clean face mask while at work.
  • Be aware of where your hands are and what you do with them. Do not touch your face or hair. Wash hands after contacting any surface another person would touch and wear gloves whenever it is practical.

Signs and symptoms of COVID-19 may appear anywhere from 2 to 14 days after exposure and may include:

  • Fever
  • Cough
  • Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

Other symptoms can include:

  • Tiredness/fatigue
  • Aches
  • Runny nose
  • Sore throat
  • Loss of smell and/or taste