Health unit offers signs to businesses to promote COVID-19 precautions
Local businesses owners in need of COVID-19 signage can put down the arts and crafts supplies.
For the first time since businesses in the region were permitted to reopen, Windsor-essex County Health Unit has made “Stand Here” floor stickers and “Do Not Enter ... If You Are Sick” window clings available.
Businesses can now fill out online requests for the signs, which will be mailed out.
The health unit “has been in regular communication with representatives and leadership from local chambers of commerce and BIAS to identify the needs of our business communities to support the reopening efforts,” health unit CEO Theresa Marentette said Thursday.
“These discussions have informed the development of our
COVID-19 workplace website, a one-stop hub for a variety of resources ... to help businesses and workplaces prioritize public health and safety as the province reopens.
The health unit has also created a variety of downloadable signs for public use that can be printed off and displayed in businesses and workplaces. Those include signs asking customers to maintain a distance of two metres from others, to sanitize hands before entering, not to enter if they are sick and to put on a mask before entering.
To access the signage request form, visit the health unit’s website, wechu.org, and select “Workplace” from the “COVID -19 Quick Links” menu on the home page. That will open the “General Recommendations for Businesses & Workplaces” page. From there, select “Business Reopening Signage Order Form” and fill out the
request form for “Stand Here” floor stickers and “Do Not Enter ... If You Are Sick” window clings.
The available signage complements the health unit’s Safe Return to Business tool kit, a guidance document that details best practices and public health recommendations to minimize the spread of COVID-19. Sector-specific guidance documents with recommendations tailored to various types of businesses are also available.
Marentette reported an additional eight cases of COVID-19 among residents of Windsor-essex on Thursday, bringing the region’s total to 2,410 cases. Four of the new cases are among workers in the agri-farm sector, and three are members of the general community. One case is still under investigation by public health staff.
Most of the local residents who tested positive for the novel coronavirus have recovered, while 94 people with active cases are self-isolating. Seven individuals with the disease are in hospital, two of them in intensive care.
No additional deaths were reported on Thursday. To date, 71 people who tested positive for COVID-19 have died.
The health status of seven people with confirmed cases is currently unknown to the health unit.
Outbreaks have been declared at three retirement homes where staff members have recently tested positive. They are Shoreview at Riverside in Windsor, New Beginnings in Leamington, and Augustine Villas in Kingsville.
The health unit is monitoring outbreaks at six other workplaces. Four are agricultural businesses in Kingsville and Leamington, and two are manufacturing facilities in Tecumseh and Windsor.
To protect yourself from COVID-19, the health unit advises that you:
Wash your hands regularly and thoroughly
Practice physical distancing of two metres
Cough or sneeze into your sleeve or a tissue
Keep surfaces clean and disinfected
Stay home unless it is essential to go out
Stay home if you are sick
Wear a non-medical cloth mask in settings where physical distancing cannot be maintained