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How the Management of a Condo or Housing Estate Should Perform When COVID-19 Cases Arrive

- living tips

COVID-19 is a disease contracted through the respiratory system. The common areas that are shared at condominiums or housing estates, such as the lifts, door handles, hallways and other shared spaces are risk spots for transmission. Any resident within the community who is infected with COVID-19 can potentially spread the disease easily.

This being the case, it is necessary for the juristic person management company for each condominium or gated community to have stringent disease response and safety measures.

To prevent the spread of COVID-19, the management of a condominium or housing estate might execute the following actions:

FREQUENTLY CLEAN THE COMMON AREAS AND REGULARLY USED CONTACT SURFACES

Make alcohol gel available at spots that are often touched, such as doors, lifts, the fitness room and the recreation room.

Sanitise frequently touched spots every 1 hour, including those in the lifts, at entrances, in the toilets. Sanitise touch spots at other applicable places in the common area every 3 hours.

Emphasise the use of protective items such as gloves, safety glasses and health masks among housekeeping staff, to protect them against chemicals and germs while performing duty. Seal off the area to be cleaned. Select the sanitising agent that is appropriate for each surface or site. Pour the liquid agent onto the wiping cloth and then apply the latter to surfaces, to avoid dispersing fine droplets of the sanitiser.

Apply disinfectant mist. This is done once a week to augment the effectiveness of sanitization reinforce – an area is sealed off after cleaning, before misting is applied.

Provide residents with information about sanitisation. Tie up garbage bags and arrange a space for the temporary storage of infectious waste within the condominium project or the housing estate.

Select a safe area located away from waterways and conduits, and exercise caution against animals tampering with the garbage bags. Notify the relevant local agency to collect the waste for appropriate disposal.

Spraying disinfectant mist once per week

Space for infectious waste regularly undergoes sanitising

KEEP THE RESIDENTS SAFE FROM OUTSIDE VISITORS

Set up a temperature screening point at the entrance to restrict access. Consider denying entry to a person whose temperature exceeds 37.5 degrees Celsius.

Contractors and visitors must complete a risk evaluation form before entering the project’s premises each time.

Designate food drop-off and pick-up spots in open, airy spaces. Partition off each of the food waiting areas. Enforce distancing between the food delivery personnel and residents. Provide alcohol gel at each of these spots.

To collect parcels, a resident should inform the management of the intended collection date and time (within the 8 am-6 pm working hours) beforehand. The resident should come to the desk in front of the juristic person office to pick up the parcel at this scheduled time. Parcels are sanitised via alcohol spray and then laid out in preparation for pick-up. A fumigation cabinet is used at some projects to disinfect parcels before handing them over to residents. These practices reduce risks associated with reduced interpersonal distances.

FOLLOW UP ON RESIDENTS AND THE COVID-19 PATIENTS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY

The management should check up on residents through channels such as questionnaires or online forms to get a rough idea of the number of occupants within the community. This information is used to determine actions to be taken, in alignment with the severity of the local outbreak.

MAINTAIN CONTACT WITH THE LOCAL PUBLIC HEALTH AGENCY OR THE PROVINCIAL PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICE

The management should coordinate with the local public health agency to receive information, news and come to know the clear-cut contact channels for disease control authorities. Inform the authorities whenever a COVID-19 patient is found within the community.

IMPART INFORMATION ONTO RESIDENTS

Publicise information and updates relating to disease prevention, control and monitoring to residents so they remain well-informed and able to take actions to protect themselves and prevent infections. Ask the residents and visitors for their cooperation in wearing masks whenever they are in the common area.

INSPECT THOSE AT RISK OF INFECTION

Ascertain the risk level for persons who have been in direct contact with infected individuals, and have them self-isolate for 14 days while observing the Ministry of Public Health’s suggested behavioural guideline for people with various infection risk levels. Set up a team to deliver food, collect waste and facilitate convenience for residents who need to self-isolate.

The service personnel must wear face masks and gloves when delivering service. The management should make daily inquiries with self-isolating residents about their conditions and temperature readings throughout the 14 days.

Management making inquiries with self-isolating residents

Food delivery and waste collection team

WHEN A COVID PATIENT IS FOUND AT A PROJECT, THE MANAGEMENT SHOULD OVERSEE THE PATIENT AND CARRY OUT THE FOLLOWING:

Carry out ‘big cleaning’ of hallways in the entire common area. Management will sanitise areas using wiping cloths, to avoid a dissipation of germs. A service provider firm will be called in to disinfect areas by misting.

Disclose the timeline of the infected person and check with the individual whether he/she was a person who tested positive, someone deemed at risk of infection waiting for the test result, someone with a negative result but needing to isolate, etc.

note

If there is more than 1 person needing to isolate, keep individual records of information (take care to ensure the security of information).
Inquire about the date when symptoms first developed, the symptoms (if any) at hand, the date when testing was carried out and the date when the result was announced, to reversely construct a timeline.
Request a timeline specific to the residential project, such as the dates and times when common spaces were used, and the dates and times when the person entered and left the condo.
Ask about what the hospital recommended and any process that needs to be carried out.
Inspect CCTV footages to reinforce the accuracy of the timeline.

Issue notices to residents to inform them of the case and coordinate with residents who were exposed to risk due to having used a common space at the same time as the individual in the case. Exposed residents should be tested and start self-isolation.

Management will facilitate daily convenience by delivering food and collecting waste to and from the rooms of isolating residents. The service personnel must wear face masks and gloves while providing the service.

Coordinate with a hospital to deliver the patient. Make an announcement of the hospital’s scheduled date and time, so residents can avoid being exposed to a patient while the latter is en route to the hospital.

Immediately clean and spray disinfectant mist after a patient has been moved through a hallway, and take steps to clean the garbage room on the patient’s floor.

Apply disinfectant mist in the patient’s room and in the surrounding area.

Inspecting CCTV footages to check the accuracy of the infected’s timeline

Disclose the timeline of the infected person

CONDUCT GUIDELINE IN AN EVENT THAT THE COVID SITUATION ESCALATES

Measures to oversee cases and prevent COVID-19 at residential projects were drawn from the experience of Plus Property. The measures comprise a screening protocol for people entering a project, including project staff and general visitors.

Cleaning measures exist and also involves the spraying of disinfectant and the handling of parcels. Self-isolation measures are available. Communication with residents are made through a mobile application and notices inside each project, providing residents and occupants with relevant information.

Said information include how to monitor for symptoms, updates to the various protocols in place, and emergency contact numbers. Protocols exist for the handling of infected persons found in a project, and involve the announcement of the find as well as disclosure of the person’s timeline pertaining to common area usage.

At-risk individuals are monitored and cared for as coordination is made for them to undergo self-isolation, during which symptoms are observed in accordance with the standards and criteria of the Department of Disease Control. All of the above helps to mitigate the risk inside each residential project.

Plus Property is a full-service professional real estate agency that provides comprehensive assistance in reselling/letting properties and the purchasing of second-hand condominium units. With more than 20 years of experience, PLUS’s team of quality professionals manages residential and commercial properties and also manages projects’ sales and marketing, heeding to all types of demand.

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