2.1 Pandemic BC Execution Stage 2: Response [Part 1]

WHO Stage: Alert

The WHO will trigger the Alert for a country affected by the limited spread from human to human. This stage is triggered when the country level health authority has identified cases of human infection of the Infectious Disease. This trigger is an indication that the disease will spread within the country with clusters surfacing throughout the country.

When WHO triggers this stage in another country, and there is no Infectious Disease infection in your country, your organisation should continue with the “Reduction” stage and adhere to your country’s Infectious Disease alert system.

It is also essential to take note that the time window between the WHO and your country’s Infectious Disease alert can be between 20 to 30 days.

The activation of the “Response” stage within the BC phase does not imply the stoppage of the activities for the “reduction” stage. In fact, the “reduction” stage must continue even with the activation of the “recovery/resumption” stage of the BC plans.

Respond

The organisation will need to have clear procedures to trigger (declare) and activate the BC plan. The appearance of infectious disease entering your organisation’s home country will trigger this stage. The trigger indicates that the virus has spread throughout the country and will inevitably affect the organisation’s staff.

Immediate emergency response actions should be taken to isolate infected personnel to prevent the spread of the virus and manage the immediate impacts to the business.

Subsequent plans and processes to restore business functions quickly and efficiently in the event of an Infectious Disease occurrence will follow suit from the emergency response.

During this stage, the incident management structure will have to manage dynamically the incident as the situation develops. The government may introduce measures, or unplanned events may occur. It is, therefore, essential that the incident management structure is robust and can be modified quickly to react to situation changes. This structure includes staffing of appropriate, qualified and well-trained team members.

Problem Escalation

Within the organisation, there are possible situations that may trigger the activation of the BC plan. They are:

• Activation of response plan by a local health authority (a most likely scenario).
• If a staff member or customer:
• Is suspected or identified to have caught the Infectious Disease virus.
• Has returned from a country infected and displays symptoms of the infectious disease.
• Is issued a quarantine at home order (depending on local government policy).
• Whose risk level is above the norm, e.g. he/she has a relative who is suspected to have or has the Infectious Disease or has travelled to an infected country.
• If a staff or client has been in contact with a suspect or probable Infectious Disease case but has not been quarantined(contact tracing in progress) by the authorities:
• What should his/her colleagues, immediate superior or manager do?
• To whom should they escalate the report?

Isolation

When an organisation encounters any Infectious Disease suspect, it should: 

• Isolate the person immediately.
• Ensure the personnel handling the response is protected.
• Contact the health authorities.
• Leave it to the health authorities to impose quarantine measures.
• Administer and implement temperature and travel checks.
• Evacuate the Infectious Disease suspect to the pre-designated hospital via special ambulance services.

Contact Tracing

The organisation should proceed with contact tracing by taking the following actions:

• Compile a list of colleagues, employees, and customers who have come into contact with the infected person within the last three days, and forward it to the manager/unit handling Infectious Disease.
• Provide a person with immediate medical attention and ensure quarantine of at least five days, if required, according to the recommendation of the health authorities.
• As a precautionary measure, send the rest of the staff members in the affected department home so as to isolate the incident.

Decontamination                 

There is a need to decontaminate the cordoned or suspected areas. The organisation should proceed to:

• Identify and contact the authorised agencies to disinfect areas.
• Clean, disinfect and sanitise the washrooms, lifts, stairways, work areas and common areas.

Recover Critical Operations

The organisation activates the BC plan and proceeds to:

• Activate alternate sites (e.g. special arrangements had earlier been made to the vendors to use their facilities).
• Re-route telecommunication capabilities to the alternate sites, if necessary.

Crisis Communication

On crisis communication, the organisation proceeds to:

• Issue health advisories to staff to prevent panic, control information dissemination, and sieve out misinformation.
• Inform the public with the tone of caution and concern, and highlight pro-active measures.

It is imperative that the organisation do the following when communicating with both internal and external agencies:

• Face the world and tell the truth.
• Plan for the worst in case it happens.
• Get the press release ready.
• Do not attempt to cover up as the customers, shareholders and staff have the right to know what is happening.

Enforce Travel Restrictions

Where possible, organisations should discourage employees from travelling to countries or regions where outbreaks are prevalent.   Organisations are expected to follow travel advice and warnings, especially those from the WHO. This region should include destinations that employees intend to travel.

If there are any reported cases of Infectious Disease in your area, encourage staff to avoid crowds. Wherever applicable, encouraging and facilitating working from home.

The key is to ensure that employees in infected zones do not carry the disease to their co-workers. If a staff member is infected, move the others out of the infected area.

• Provide Travel Advisory
  • Staff members should also be advised not to travel to Infectious Disease stricken areas. The restriction should apply to all employees, including senior management.
• Enforce Travel Ban to Infected Hot Spots

Travelling to and from Infectious Disease infected areas (with contact reference to the WHO list of countries) or Hot Spots should be minimised and even banned. If required, organisations should:

• Quarantine staff before and after personal trips.
• Use telephone or video conferencing whenever possible.
• Discourage unnecessary business meetings.
• Replace face-to-face business meetings, seminars and conferences with web-based and teleconferencing alternatives.

Enforce Mandatory Quarantine

Organisations may need to enforce mandatory quarantine for their employees due to:

• Return from travel to hot spots.
• Unavoidable travel.
• Contact with Infectious Disease.
• Served with quarantine orders.
• New employees are originating from hot spots.
• Patients infected with Infectious Disease.

Quarantine of High-Risk Personnel

Organisations may need to enforce quarantine for their employees when:

• Family members or close contacts are Infectious Disease victims and are served quarantine order by the authority.
• Staff members who fall ill with flu-like symptoms and are advised by company doctors to stay away.

The quarantine requires consultation with medical professionals. It is highly dependent on whether the country is under the WHO’s category of Infectious Disease-infected territories.

Do You Want to Continue Training During A COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak?

Competency-based Course	Certification Course

			Back To
	Reference Guide Goh, M. H. (2016). A Manager’s Guide to Implement Your Infectious Disease Business Continuity Plan, 2nd Edition. GMH Pte Ltd.