For over a year now our country has suffered under ever-changing lifestyle restrictions in reaction to an extremely infectious new virus called SARS-CoV-2. We all have been told by government agencies what we must do to prevent the spread of this virus. “Isolate for two weeks to flatten the curve” quickly became “stay at home and do not associate with others unless absolutely necessary.” As a result, many businesses ceased operations and closed forever.
Some businesses, however, are essential to life in our society. When water or fire damages a home or business, repairs are needed right away. They cannot wait until government sounds the all-clear for a virus. For this reason, ServiceMaster of Gwinnett and ServiceMaster Five Points Athens adopted methods and procedures to safely address problems without endangering customers or crew members.
Initially, local governments in parts of our territory restricted commercial traffic to “Essential Workers Only.” Our crews had to carry documentation proving that they were essential workers and first responders. We could not risk their being prohibited from responding rapidly to an emergency job. Crew members had to wear full protective gear, including hazmat suits with gloves, and masks with eye protection. These were specified by government agencies as necessary to prevent the spread of covid. We developed procedures to allow customers to sign documents electronically and our crews were trained in social distancing procedures.
As time went on, we learned more about this virus and how it was transmitted. Government restrictions were relaxed somewhat. But since SARS-CoV-2 is primarily a respiratory virus we made sure that our crew members wore N-95 masks and practiced social distancing with frequent hand washing, both on jobs and in the warehouse. These practices undoubtedly helped, since our companies have had no incidences of disease transmission during the pandemic.
During the past year, we have been called upon to sanitize buildings where there was fear of covid infection. Procedures are similar to what we have done during flu epidemics, but sanitizing agents now have to be tested and proven effective against SARS-CoV-2. Fortunately, ServiceMaster has a number of agents which are very effective, and our crews are well-trained in their use.
It appears that now, due to our precautions and the increasing use of vaccines, this battle against covid may wind down soon. Even though people and companies have suffered, we have all learned the value of caution against the spread of disease. We at ServiceMaster are fortunate to be able to do our part to combat this epidemic.
