Recommendations for

the Food Industry

TAG Responds to CDC COVID-19 Symptoms Update.

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In response to CDC’s recent changes to its list of COVID-19 symptoms, TAG is updating its wellness screening recommendations. In seeing CDC’s guidance as minimum standards related to the symptoms, TAG’s recommendations seek to provide best practices to assist businesses in protecting workers and screening for asymptomatic cases, as follows:

Primary symptoms (any one of the these)

• Shortness of breath

• Cough

• Fever,

• Chills, including repeated shaking

• New loss of taste or smell (anosmia)

• Diarrhea (in general, based on good food safety practices those with diarrhea should always be excluded from a food establishment)

 

Secondary symptoms (any two or more)

• Headache

• Muscle pain

• Sore throat

• Fatigue /tiredness

• Oxygen (O2) levels below 90% (measured with a medical grade oximeter that’s disinfected between uses)

 

If any employee has any of the Primary symptoms, or any two of the Secondary symptoms, they should be sent home immediately and instructed to call their healthcare provider and describe their symptoms for evaluation. The employee should then stay at home in quarantine until:

• At least 3 days (72 hours) have passed since resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications, AND

• Improvement of symptoms (including cough, shortness of breath); AND

• At least 7 days have passed since symptoms first appeared.

 

If the employee is tested for COVID-19 and tests positive, they should be consult with their physician for the return-to-work determination.

Everyone should practice social distancing (more specifically, physical distancing), not only those who are ill or at higher-risk (e.g. older individuals, pre-existing conditions) but also among healthy individuals so we may "flatten the curve".

 

Please feel free to use this free poster at your establishment. Please email us (info@achesongroup.com) for a copy of this poster (English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Chinese - simplified, traditional are available).