Translation Section Editors
Shou-Hsia Cheng, PhD
According to the monitoring data from the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), there are increasing confirmed cases due to family or hospital clustering. The number of indigenous cases had already exceeded the number of imported cases. Furthermore, there are cases with an unknown source of infection. These are warning signs of community spread.
Considering certain large business places that people visit frequently and gather together, such as department stores, hotels, gyms, indoor playgrounds, and movie theaters, the risk of spreading COVID-19 and other respiratory infectious diseases might increase because of the close contact among people for a long time. The CECC recommends that people with fever or respiratory tract symptoms should avoid visiting those places. The owner of the place of business should also strengthen environmental sanitary and staffs’ health management. Customers should also comply with related rules and adopt appropriate preventive measures.
- Strengthen health education for and communication with customers and staffs via multiple means (such as
posters, websites, text messages, Line app, etc.):
- Basic concepts: such as “Wash hands frequently”, “respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette” and “people
with fever or respiratory tract symptoms should recuperate at home and avoid going to public places.”
- Health education for vulnerable groups: People with weaker immunity such as those with chronic lung
diseases (including asthma), cardiovascular, kidney, nerve, blood or metabolic diseases (including
diabetes), hemoglobinopathy, immune insufficiency requiring long-term treatment, and pregnancy, are
recommended to avoid going to crowded public places.
- Health education for working staff: When getting ill, they should recuperate at home and can return to
work only until recovery and not using antipyretics for 24 hours.
- The most updated information about the COVID-19 epidemic, advice of epidemic prevention, and related
promoting materials such as multimedia, posters, leaflets, etc. can be viewed or downloaded at the
COVID-19 Section on the Global Information Network of Taiwan CDC (https://www.cdc.gov.tw).
- Strengthen the maintenance of activity spaces, personnel control, and preparation of protective equipment:
- Maintain good ventilation in activity spaces.
- Maintain a distance of more than 1 meter between each facility, or arrange seats in plum blossom style
to control the number of people and to ensure not overcrowded.
- Strengthen the maintenance of environmental sanitation, surfaces that are frequently touched by people
(such as buttons of elevators, escalators, ground, workout equipment, amusement facilities, tables and
chairs, telephone handsets, etc.), and bathroom surfaces (such as faucets, doorknobs, toilet lids, and
flush handles) should be cleaned regularly by designated staffs and should be sterilized at least once a
day. (If there are a lot of customers, the frequency of disinfection can be increased.) Methods of
sterilization and precautions are as follow:
(1) Use 1:50 (prepared at the same day, using 1 portion of bleach solution and 49 portions of cold
water) diluted bleach solution or sodium hypochlorite (1,000 ppm), applying it on the surface with mops
or rags to clean for one to two minutes, and wiping the surface clean with wet mops or rags.
(2) Personnel executing cleaning and sterilization should wear personal protective equipment (gloves,
surgical masks, waterproof apron and glasses, goggles or face masks if necessary) to avoid sterilizer
sprayed on their eyes, mouth, or nose.
- Post a notice at the ticketing or entrance of the place to promote “wash hand frequently” and
“respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette”. If possible, arrange staffs to assist temperature taking and
symptoms assessment for customers at the entrance. If someone has a fever (ear temperature ≥38˚C or
forehead temperature ≥ 37.5˚C) or any respiratory tract symptoms, the staff should persuade the he/she
not to enter, and refund the ticket.
- It is allowed to require customers to wear a mask when entering to certain spaces based on the forms of
activities and the risk of disease spreading.
- The place should be equipped with sufficient hand washing facilities and cleaning supplies, including
hand-washing products (such as soap or liquid hand soap), paper towels, etc. Or prepare hand sterilizer
at the entrance and ask customers to wash their hands at the restroom or by hand sterilizer before
entry.
- In response to the possibility that customers or staffs may feel sick, the place of business can be
equipped with gloves, surgical masks and appropriate isolation space in case it is need.
- Establish liaison with relevant departments (such as local public health authority) and ensure relevant
personnel are familiar with the contact process.
- The owner of the business place should develop a health monitoring plan for the staffs and a follow-up
mechanism for those with abnormal figures.
- All the staff should fulfill self-health monitoring, if someone has a fever (ear temperature ≧38°C; forehead
temperature ≧37.5°C) or any respiratory tract symptoms, he/she should report the situation to the supervisor or
the person in charge and take adequate protective actions and get medical treatment under guidelines.
- Every staff who have the chance to contact with customers is suggested to wear a mask all the way during their
working time.
- Rules of sick leave due to fever or respiratory tract symptom and manpower back up plan should be developed,
and every staff should be familiar with the rules and comply with them. If someone has any symptoms such as
fever, respiratory tract symptom or diarrhea, he/she should ask for leave or stop rom working until he/she
recovers and doesn’t use antipyretic more than 24 hours. Staffs who asked for leave due to COVID-19 or suspected
to be a COVID-19 patient, the days of leave should be considered generously. The leave is inappropriate to be
listed in full attendance or performance appraisal.
- If any customer or staff has suspected symptoms, it is recommended to follow the instructions below:
- The person who has the symptoms should be separated from others with an ideal distance of more than one
meter. The person is also requested to comply with coughing etiquette, keep hands clean, and wear a
surgical mask.
- Inform the health authority immediately and follow the instructions of the health authority to send the
suspected patient to designated hospital. Meanwhile, the place of business should cooperate with the
health authority to conduct epidemic investigation and related protective actions.
- Before the suspected patient is sent to the hospital, he/she should be taken care of by a designated
person, this person should not be those with a high risk to have complication and should wear mask and
gloves when contacting with the patient. After contacting with the patient or cleaning the waste of the
patient, the caregiver should take off the mask and gloves carefully and wash hands correctly and
thoroughly.
- The waste, the used mask and gloves of the patient should be sealed inside a sturdy plastic bag before
littering.
Translation Associate Editor(s)
Ruen-Yi Chen
Translators
Li-Ling Hsu, Po-Jung Lai
Typographers
Yi-Yun Cheng, Yao-Chung Chang