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Guest Speaker

Dr. Misty Looney

Guest Speaker

Dr. Misty Looney

ABOUT Dr. Misty J. Looney

Dr. Misty J. Looney is a Public Health Officer in the U.S. Air Force. She graduated from Mississippi State University with a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine degree in 2004 and has served in the Public Health career field for 16 years. Her Public Health duties include Communicable Disease Prevention, Hospital Infection Control, and Pandemic Preparedness planning for military installations. She has been on the front lines of COVID19 response since January 2020.

Hosted by a seasoned pandemic expert, this 60-minute webinar will coach Imaging Dealer leaders on the latest insights to prevent, monitor, detect and manage effective safety measures to protect their employees and customers.

Webinar FAQ's Discussed

  1. What is the required time for quarantine and why did the CDC change this requirement?
  2. What’s an Emergency Use Authorization & does this mean the vaccine may not be safe?
  3. How long is it going to take for the vaccine to be available for me and my employees?
  4. Can I mandate employees to receive the vaccine as a condition of employment?
  5. Why is the virus mutating and does this mean the vaccine will not be effective?
  6. One of my technicians said he is a “close contact” to a positive case. Do I need to wait until the health department contacts him before he goes home for quarantine?
  7. What if I was exposed and my test is negative the next day? Can I return to work?
  8. Does wearing a mask really protect me?
  9. Where should I research information about COVID19 to stay current and receive accurate, unbiased information?
  10. How long will it be before life returns to “normal” now that the vaccine is available?

Answers to Dealer Pandemic FAQ's

What are your thoughts on children getting vaccinated? Is there an age cut-off for this?

The 2 vaccines currently in use in the United States are Pfizer and Moderna. The Pfizer vaccine is approved for use in people 16 years of age and older. The Moderna vaccine is approved for use in those 18 years of age and older. Studies are underway by both Pfizer and Moderna in children ages 12-17. They next stage of clinical trials for children ages 5-11 will begin after the results from the adolescent trials are completed.
To answer the question, at this time there is no vaccine approved for use in younger children. This is due simply to the fact that clinical trials have not been completed and they can only recommend the vaccine to the population demographics that have already been studied in the clinical trials. On a more personal note, when the vaccine is available for the younger age groups, I will recommend that my 2 younger daughters receive the vaccine.

Are gloves really effective for protection against COVID-19?

Early in the pandemic, less was known about the virus and how it was transmitted. Since that time it has been determined that spread of the virus from inanimate objects in the community is less of a risk than previously thought. The primary route of transmission is via respiratory droplets. The CDC states that for the general public, wearing gloves is not necessary in most situations, like running errands. They do recommend wearing gloves when you are cleaning or caring for someone who is sick.
It is my opinion that some people I’ve witnessed wearing gloves are not using them responsibly. For example, they touch everything in their environment then touch their face or their cell phone with the gloves still on. It is better to just not wear the gloves (except when caring for someone who is ill with COVID) and instead use hand sanitizer if in an environment where you may been in contact with contaminated surfaces. Hand sanitizer has proven to be VERY effective.

How long should someone be quarantined 14 or 10 days?

The CDC still recommends quarantine for the entire 14 days. Local Public Health authorities make the final decision about how long to quarantine based on local conditions and needs. They may choose to consider the new options offered by the CDC to reduce the length of quarantine time. These new options include:
Stopping quarantine after day 10 (without testing).
Stopping quarantine after day 7 after receiving a negative test result (the test must occur after day 5 or later).

If my team member arrives to perform work and the customer environment is not following any protocols what is the best dialogue to coach them on to keep them safe?

The chance of exposure due to fomites (inanimate objects) in the environment is very low. Encourage your technician to carry a small container of hand sanitizer with them and use it after touching commonly touched surfaces in the customer environment – if they feel that place of business is not following recommended protocols. Most importantly, coach your technician to ensure they maintain a minimum 6 foot distance from any personnel in that customer environment. Most people nowadays are not offended if you do not shake hands during introductions and they will not judge if you choose to stand at a greater distance while conversing. In addition, your technician can wear an N95 mask in a situation such as what you described above. This will afford him/her slightly more protection vs. a simple cloth face covering if they do encounter someone who does not respect the 6 foot distance. Hope that helps!

Should we make all our employees get the COVID vaccine?

No. While under an Emergency Use Authorization the COVID-19 vaccine cannot be mandated for anyone. After the vaccine gains full approval from the FDA, it still will not be necessary to mandate that all employees get the vaccine. After enough of the population is vaccinated, the amount of virus circulating in the United States should be at a level similar to seasonal influenza and thus not a significant risk of spread in the work center. It would recommend letting the individual choose if they would like to receive the vaccine.

Does a business have to shut down if one person comes down with COVID-19, and did not know they had it at work place?

This is a complicated question and depends on the circumstances surrounding the potential exposure.
You do not have to “shut down” per se, but should thoroughly inquire with each employee if they were potentially exposed to the person who was ill. Anyone who meets the case definition of a “close contact” should definitely not come into the work center until they have completed the required quarantine timeframe. The definition of a close contact is as follows:
Close Contact- any employee who was within 6 feet of the ill person (starting from 2 days before symptom onset) for a total of 15 minutes throughout the course of the day, and regardless of whether they were wearing masks or not. (Encourage employees to be honest with their answers. Try not to appear judgmental or disappointed)  
Environmental contamination is less of a concern. If the ill employee frequented a certain part of the business, wipe down commonly touched surfaces with an approved disinfectant (such as Clorox wipes), but extensive cleaning is not necessary. Nor is shutting down the business for any period of time. COVID19 is spread predominantly through respiratory droplet secretions so maintaining the 6’ minimum distance is the best protective measure.

When can an employee come back to work after they have had COVID-19?

They can return to work when they meet the CDC criteria for “return to work” guidelines. They can return to the work place if it has been at least 10 days since symptom onset and they have been fever-free for at least 24 hours (without the use of fever reducing medications). Even if they have some residual symptoms such as slight cough, fatigue, etc. as long as it has been 10 days since they first became ill, then the CDC states they are no longer infectious and cannot spread the virus to others in the work center.

What active ingredient in wipes/spray has been most effective at killing the Covid-19 virus?

Ask Dr. Misty Looney now and check back to see answers to Dealer FAQ's.

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