Organizational COVID-19 Planning
Written by Gwen, Shop General Manager –
As you may have noticed, our shop has been closed for a few days here and there over the course of the past few months. Since we will continue to experience sporadic closures to help keep our staff and community safe, we wanted to be as transparent as possible. We also feel that it’s particularly important to be transparent about our policies, and try to set a positive example for other businesses, given the absence of consistent guidelines from different levels of government. We want you to know what to expect from us, and what you can count on us for during this pandemic. Here’s what we’re up to:
The Community Cycling Center has crafted a policy based on the guidelines from epidemiologists at the CDC and from abroad that focus on social distancing and quarantining, in the absence of reliable testing and tracing. Rather than participating in Oregon’s partial re-opening, we will continue to provide curb-side sales and service only. Based on other CDC recommendations, we have split our large staff of nearly 40 people into 4 smaller “pods” to reduce everyone’s risk of exposure to COVID-19. We have provided staff and community partners with an ample supply of masks and sanitizer, and encouraged all of our staff to avoid travel, crowded indoor venues, and otherwise do everything they can to reduce their risk of exposure to COVID-19. Of course, we also require all staff and customers to wear a mask while on-site, and to maintain 6 feet of distance from one another whenever possible!
But despite our best efforts, exposure and transmissions are bound to occur during a pandemic. When that happens, our top priority is reducing any further transmission among our staff, customers and the wider community we serve. If any of our staff, or someone with whom they’ve been in close proximity, experiences symptoms consistent with COVID-19 or has tested positive for the virus we take immediate action!
Taking action may include shutting down the shop and cancelling programs in the community so we have time to contact everyone involved and fully assess the situation. It may mean informing our community partners or customers about the situation if we believe they may have been exposed to a sick staff member. It may mean reducing our hours for a week or two so we can continue to run the shop on reduced staffing. (This is where our “pods” come in handy!)
While the specific actions we take may change depending on the situation, our goal is always to reduce the risk of transmission and help protect our community. In fact, we believe that in the absence of reliable leadership, every individual and organization must hold themselves responsible for keeping their communities safe.
Whenever we do have to close, we’ll post updates daily on our social media pages, so please follow us on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook for regular updates and other information about what we’re up to!