Drivergent Transportation’s COVID-19 Hazard Mitigation Response
The U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) is responding to an outbreak of respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus that was first detected in China and which has now been detected in more than 100 locations internationally, including in the United States. The virus has been named “SARS-CoV-2” and the disease it causes has been named “coronavirus disease 2019” (abbreviated “COVID-19”).
On March 10, 2020, the State of Michigan announced the first presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 within the state and declared a state of emergency to maximize efforts to slow the spread. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization now characterized COVID-19 as a pandemic.
While risk to the general public remains relatively low at this time, numerous recommendations are being made by the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC), and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) in order to slow the spread of the disease both regionally and nationally.
www.michigan.gov/coronavirus
www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov
Drivergent Transportation continues to monitor the situation and reviews all new communications and advisories from governmental agencies to properly address our COVID-19 Hazard Mitigation Response for our school bus operational activities for the safety of our employees and our passengers. While specific recommendations for passenger bus travel have not yet been made, we are following the recommendations given for schools, businesses and air travel.
You can download a pdf copy of Drivergent Transportation’s COVID-19 Hazard Mitigation Response here.
- Learn about the signs and symptoms of COVID-19, which include fever, cough and difficulty breathing.
- STAY HOME WHEN YOU ARE SICK, and Individuals at risk of severe illness should consider staying at home.
- Regularly clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces, such as doorknobs, keyboards, cell phones and light switches.
- Communicate and reinforce best practices for washing hands and covering coughs and sneezes.
- Be sure to maintain a supply of medications, food, and other essentials in your house.
- Cancel or postpone large gatherings, conferences and sporting events (e.g. events with over 100 people).
- Reduce in-person gatherings and activities, especially for organizations with individuals at risk of severe illness.
- Consider tele-learning or tele-work opportunities.
- Limit non-essential work travel.
- Monitoring the health of our employees and ensuring those that are sick remain at home.
- Promoting hand washing and hygiene in the workplace, and before and after driving.
- Limiting group workplace meetings currently.
- Encouraging our driving staff to avoid touching their eyes, nose and mouth, and cover their mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing.
- Limiting physical interaction and proximity with passengers unless necessary for safety.
- Our vehicles are being cleaned and disinfected at our facility before and after each trip:
- This includes seat cushions and seat backs
- Handrails, sidewalls and windows
- Our vehicle vents and windows are left slightly ajar to promote air flow and environment circulation
- Performing in-trip cleaning and sanitizing as needed
- We are monitoring our passenger’s health and safety and reporting any concerns to our clients.
- Any indication our employees may have fallen ill will be promptly reported to health authorities.
