Operational Considerations for Community Isolation Centers for COVID-19 in Low-Resource Settings
Written by COVID-19 NEWS on August 8, 2021
Develop a Staffing Plan
Staff are used primarily to ensure the orderly functioning of the CIC and to triage patients. The number of staff will depend on available resources, the size of the facility, and the intended number of patients. A staffing plan for a CIC should include patient care and, where applicable, administrative, cleaning, security, and food preparation staff. Having patient care staff with at least some medical training (e.g., nurses, nursing assistants, or community health workers) on site to assess patients may be beneficial. If care staff are not available, consider training community volunteers.
Staffing plans should include:
- Encouraging staff and healthcare workers to become vaccinated against COVID-19 to reduce the risk of infection or hospitalization from COVID-19 exposure in higher-risk settings.
- At least one person with infection prevention and control (IPC) training who is regularly available to answer questions, listen to concerns, and train staff.
- Monitoring for infectious diseases and providing regular cleaning and disinfection of the facility.
- Having one or two staff members available at the CIC 24 hours per day, 7 days a week, to monitor patient intake, ensure patient safety, and keep unauthorized people from entering the facility.
- Considering children’s physical safety and mental and emotional health and hiring staff who have experience dealing with children.
- Employing a full-time security guard, if feasible, to ensure the safety of patients and staff.
Flexible and nonpunitive sick leave policies for staff will ensure people do not work while ill, helping to maintain the health of the overall workforce. Be sure there is a process in place for reporting staff exposure and infections to the authority responsible for operating the CIC and the Ministry of Health. Develop a written protocol or log for identifying, monitoring, and reporting COVID-19 among staff.
All staff must self-assess daily for COVID-19 symptoms. If staff exhibit signs of fever or respiratory symptoms, staff should:
- Remotely report this information to their supervisor.
- Be given an immediate medical assessment and follow-up actions.
- Determine with the supervisor whether they should report to work, depending on whether they are in contact with only confirmed cases, how ill they are, and whether they feel comfortable going to work.
Develop best practices for monitoring and managing ill and exposed healthcare workers.
Continue reading
