On January 21st, 2020, the United States had its first confirmed coronavirus case, who was a man from Washington state that had visited Wuhan. The first death from COVID-19 in the United States was February 29th. By early March, people were sent home to work and stay in quarantine to help reduce the virus's spread.

Working from home is convenient nowadays with the amount of technology present. However, some jobs just can't be done virtually. For example, plumbers, electricians, construction workers, and roofing services need to go into people's homes.

Dominion Roofing Services states problems in a home, such as missing shingles, can't be left unresolved, which is explained in an article they wrote.

So, what's the best plan for these types of businesses to operate while protecting themselves and others from the spread of COVID-19? We're going to tell you with some safety tips.

Provide Cleaning Supplies

One of the most effective ways to stop the spread of coronavirus is to disinfect and clean as much as possible. To ensure your employees are doing this with material brought to the client's homes, workspace, and themselves, you should provide them with cleaning supplies.

These include hand sanitizer, alcohol spray, antiseptic wipes, and bleach. Give your employees detailed instructions on cleaning the products and themselves properly before going into people's homes and afterward.

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Mandatory Masks

As a business owner, it's your responsibility to enforce rules. During this time, you need to mandate wearing a mask when in the client's homes and the office.

There are plenty of studies that prove that wearing a mask significantly reduces coronavirus spread because droplets can't escape or get in. Also, you should enforce social distancing for everyone.

You can have a consequence system setup for those workers who don't wear a mask to ensure everyone is doing it.

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Required Testing

When you're running a business with employees in contact with several people over the course of a day or week, you need to test them frequently. Doing as many tests as possible will make sure that your employees are healthy and can work.

If you can't get the official COVID-19 tests, take people's temperatures every day. Anyone with a fever or symptoms should be sent home immediately or taken to a facility that has coronavirus tests. When there’s a positive case found, you need to notify all employees and customers they've been in contact within the last couple of days or weeks.

As a business owner, you'll  have to take the financial burden of sick pay, costs of tests, and loss of work. However, we all need to do our part to end this pandemic, and if you want to run your business, this is your way to help.

The Bottom Line

The coronavirus pandemic is something none of us expected to happen or to go on for this long. We need to adapt our way of life to assist in reducing the spread and to protect everyone, especially the most vulnerable.

Businesses need to provide employees with proper cleaning supplies, mandate wearing masks, and test as much as possible. Hopefully, one day soon, the coronavirus will be a thing of the past, but we have to do our part for now.