By Steve Moran

As we are closing in on the final speaker lineup for “Our Time to Shine” digital summit that starts April 20, we were approached with the opportunity to have Jered Markoff, CTO of HQ Emergency Operations for the World Health Organization (WHO) be one of our presenters. A big thanks to Fara Gold and Natalie Markoff for making this happen.

We jumped on the opportunity!

Immediate Recommendations

This morning, Fara, Natalie, and Jered popped onto a call to talk about the content and format of his presentation, and here is the thing. He said, “Don’t wait until my presentation, which is still two weeks away. You need to talk about this now . . . you need to get the word out.”  Here is what he had to say, with the understanding that he is not an official spokesperson for the WHO.

  1. Wear masks — There is a growing body of evidence that in places where everyone is wearing masks in public the disease is spreading much more slowly. It seems likely this will be official guidance in the next few weeks.
  2. Take the extra time to social distance and wash your hands — He told a story meant to scare. During the Ebola crisis in Africa, one of the doctors had a long exhausting day and was taking off her protective gear, which requires a very precise regimen meant to protect the healthcare workers.

    According to protocol, she was supposed to take off her gloves, then immediately wash her hands with disinfectant soap. She was tired and after taking off her glove she scratched or rubbed her cheek prior to washing her hands. It was just a little natural thing, the kind of thing we all do.

    That was all it took. She contracted Ebola and died. While Ebola is much more deadly than COVID-19 (40% death rate), if you were to remember that story and pretend this virus is that deadly it could save someone else’s life and maybe your own.
  3. Have your staff change clothes and shower at the beginning and end of every shift — There is no doubt this is a huge hassle and adds costs to your operation, but right now as senior living communities are locked down, the only way the virus can get into your building is via staff and many of those team members are working in more than one community. This is the single best way to keep it out of your building.

    Even better, take their uniforms and make sure they are fresh and clean and contamination-free when they come to work. 
  4. Get ready now — This is particularly for those who have communities that have no infections and are in areas that are largely virus-free. Use the time to get really, really ready. It requires a change of routines, habits, and processes. Pretend like you are in imminent danger and behave accordingly.

We will not be locked down forever, but we are in this for a bunch of weeks or more likely months. We can shorten the duration, lessen the impact, and make the whole world safer by doing these things.

I hope you have already registered for our digital summit. If the only thing you attended was Jered’s presentation, it would be worth the price of admission. 

Click HERE to learn more about our digital summit and register to attend.