13 Mar COVID-19 Action Plan and Resources
It’s been a tumultuous few weeks in business, in communities, on the markets… globally. It’s become clear that COVID-19 is going to have a huge impact on businesses, and we’re all worried about the future. Should COVID-19 escalate in this region, some of the things businesses need to plan for include:
- Staff absences due to a number of reasons (personal illness, ill family members, looking after children if schools close, feeling of safety being at home etc.). In some cases employees may themselves elect to stay home; in other circumstances the government may authorize or require them to do so.
- Disruption to essential services like information, telecommunications, financial services, energy supply, and logistics;
- Disruption to supply of necessary materials or contractors;
- A major increase or decrease in demand for products and services;
- Cancellation or disruption of travel and cross-border movement of people and goods;
- Cancellation of public meetings or gatherings like sports events, concerts or religious services;
- Impact on the trade status of Canada, or of our trading partners; and
- Increased public fear that causes citizens to avoid public places, including front line retail and tourist–related attractions, restaurants and leisure businesses.
To help you PREPARE, we’re sharing resources we think will be helpful.
- Canadian Chamber of Commerce Pandemic Preparedness Guide – to help businesses prepare for and manage through a potential COVID-19 escalation in Canada, the Canadian Chamber has developed a brief guide sourced from a number of best practice documents and designed to assist business planning and continuity efforts. This tool includes links to the some of the most relevant and credible information, best practice tools and resources and can be found here.
- Tourism Nova Scotia has created resource web pages for the tourism industry.
- The Province of Nova Scotia has also created a resource page with the latest alerts and notices, information on how to protect yourself, travel advice, testing data, and the government’s response.
- The Government of Canada is closely monitoring the spread of the virus, and is providing updated information to the public daily on their website.
There is so much misinformation clouding the conversation on COVID-19, it’s hard to sift through it all. The sources we’ve provided above have credible, business-relevant and science-based information to help you stay safe, and to help your business prepare for the reality of a global pandemic.
Also, keep in mind that some of our traditions might need a little modification until the pandemic subsides – shaking hands and hugging are big ones in our line of work, so for now, we recommend the traditional Vulcan greeting instead!
And don’t forget to wash your hands regularly! (We suggest Mull River Shuffle as the soundtrack!)
Jokes aside, this is a very serious moment in our time. How is your business preparing for the COVID-19? Have you seen any impact on your business so far? Let us know!
Featured picture via BBC.
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