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First things first: What is Coronavirus?
Coronaviruses (CoV) are a huge family of viruses that cause illness, which can be common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). Coronaviruses are a group of a zoonotic virus, zoonotic viruses are those which are transmitted between animals and people.
This novel coronavirus responsible for the coronavirus outbreak in Australia is a new strain that is identified in human beings for the very first time, which is now known as CoVID19. Scientists have not been able to find the ground zero of this virus, but most probably, this virus was transmitted to humans in Wuhan, China. Most of the theories about the virus are that it is transmitted from bats to the human. The R nought (Ro) value of this virus is 2.2; this means a person having CoVID19 will transmit this virus to 2.2 other persons.
In case of an outbreak in a country or a region, one must know about the signs and transmission of the virus or agent causing the disease because knowing your enemy is half the battle won.
Signs and Symptoms
The common signs and symptoms include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties. These are also symptoms of normal flu. In more severe cases, it can develop to pneumonia can cause kidney failure and, eventually, death.
Spread of CoVID19
Though this virus has been acquired from the animals now, it is rapidly spreading from person to person. As a human being is a social animal, so confining the virus is the most challenging task. The virus
- spread between people who are in close contact with each other (6m)
- spread through respiratory droplets when an infected person cough or sneeze
Recently scientists have found out that it can be transmitted through doorknobs, railings. Whenever an infected person touches something, that thing gets contaminated. If it is not sterilized, the virus will continue to infect the people touching that place for about 9 days.
A new report has shown that contaminated money (notes) are also responsible for the spread of CoVID19.
Common Myths
In order to keep a business working in an outbreak of a virus or any other rapidly spreading disease-causing agent, one must know the truth about that disease-causing agent because wrong information can lead to a lot of misconceptions, and consequences are not good. The following are some myths about CoVID19 that are necessary to know by everyone.
A simple facemask cannot protect you against the virus, although there is a type of mask called N95 Type Mask, which can protect up to some extent. Though these masks can help the infected person not to spread the virus through respiratory droplets.
If a person gets infected with CoVID19, this does not mean that he is going to die for sure. Only the people whose immune system is weak are susceptible to death. Most of the people have recovered from the coronavirus as compared to the deaths, which is high in children and old age people.
Pets can get the virus from the owners but have not been reported until now to spread the virus.
CoVID19 Affecting Business
As most of the global market is in China, so this virus is definitely going to affect the business. China was not prepared for the virus as the virus was diagnosed very late, so the business in China was affected the most. However, they have tackled the situation in the best possible way. But here in Australia, you people can take precautionary measures against the CoVID19 in your business dealings and can lower down the risk of getting infected by following the set of instructions given in this article.
How to prepare your business for the outbreak?
People doing business are at higher risk of getting infected with the virus. There are many factors which put them in danger of getting a virus such as traveling to other countries and meeting with other peoples. Following are the instructions to prepare your business for outbreak:
How to prepare your business for the coronavirus outbreak in Australia?
- Educate Your Staff About The Agent Causing Disease
Employees should be given seminars on several occasions to educate them about the virus. Though gatherings should be avoided during these kinds of conditions so the employees could be educated through their respective email addresses. They should know about the transmission of the virus and the sign and symptoms of the disease.
- Revise Your Policies
According to research, 90 percent of the employees go to work while they are sick. You should make sure that your employees should know the signs of the CoVID19 which are mostly:
1. Difficult breathing
2. Cough
3. Fever
4. Shortness of breath
A proper check on the employees is necessary to see if anyone is getting these symptoms or not. Moreover, it is the responsibility of each and every employee to be cautious about their health. It should contact the concerned authorities as soon as possible if they start to get any symptoms. - Be Lenient In Giving Sick Leaves
Some companies’ policies are strict about giving sick leaves to the employees. In that case, people who are sick have to come to the workplace and may spread the disease further to other employees, provided that it is an infectious disease. So you should be lenient in giving sick leaves to the employees. In this way, they can stay at home and can take proper rest and medicines.
- Use Internet For Business
Most of the office work mostly comprises of the emails and documents in soft copy. So it is better to make an online server for the employees so they can operate from their home. In this regard, the company should provide proper devices for employees like laptops and proper internet. In this way, person to person contact will be limited, and people can remain safe in their homes.
- Reduce The Crowd At Offices
It can be achieved by dividing the working hours into small groups of people; the less the crowd, the less are the chances of getting infected. For example, if the total working hours are about 12 hours, then there should be a small group of people for 1st six hours and the 2nd group for the next six hours.
- Keeping Clean The Workplace
The workplace should be sterilized with disinfectants on a regular basis just before the start of the day and also at the end of the session. If possible, during break times, sterilization should be done. The use of sanitizers should be encouraged because the doorknobs are also among one of the factors to spread the virus.
- Limit Your Travels
Business means traveling and meetings with other people. So in order to stay safe from the disease, one should limit his/her travels as much as possible, and meetings should be called online. As we live in the 21st century, so the tool of online calling should be used as much as possible under these circumstances. Some travels cannot be avoided in that case. One should take proper precautions before going out and should keep minimum contact with other people.
- Provide support
If, in any case, an employee gets infected with the virus, he must be supported by the other employees, especially by the head of the company. Remember, not all the people who get infected with the virus die. The mortality rate is just about 3 percent. Most of the people have recovered from the disease.
- Move from On-premises to Online
The survival of business in a quarantine situation is essential. In a situation where interaction with each other causes the spread of diseases, considerable losses to the business happen. It can be a great set back to the economy of the country. But with the latest technologies, this loss can be overcome or reduced. In a quarantine situation, a business that provides any service to the people can be helpful.
The companies can arrange and train their workers to work from home with the help of cloud infrastructure. Instead of coming to the office, everyone can perform his or her duties right from home online. The schools and universities can arrange classes online with the conference call or video call and continue the study without any loss. Many world-leading companies provide online home-based jobs. The work from home has its benefits besides the one in which you are save from viruses.
Moving Your Business to Cloud
Change of Scenery
If a person tends to stay at one place, he/she becomes bored with that place. While working from home, one can change his/her seating arrangement and save oneself from fatigue, procrastination, and boredom. The breaks can be according to the person’s moods and situation, not because of the company rules.
Focused Mind
Out of many other benefits of working from home, one is a focused mind. He/she is far from many noises and is dedicated to his work. The focused mind can help him to get the job done in minimum time. The mind is free from the hustle-bustle of the office. It is in an excellent position to make a decision and work efficiently.
Dressing
If you are going to the office you need to be well dressed and well carried. But if you are working from home, you don’t have to bother about these things. Sometimes these things can be frustrating as people have to decide on an everyday day basis what to wear. At home, you can work in your PJs.
To do List
While working from home, you can manage your activities very easily. It can be helpful to run your life and work side by side. You can make a to-do list in which you are not bound to do work at a specific time but at any time of the day.
Everyone knows his/her peak energy hours and can design his work list accordingly. Some people are active at night, while others are active in the morning. So one can plan according to his interests and show the best results. Everyone should know at what time they are most productive and creative.
Multitasking
Our brains are not designed for doing many tasks at one time. In offices, you have many things going in your mind, but if you work from home, you will be more focused and relax. A relaxed and focus mind is efficient and takes less time to get work done and also to make smart decisions.
Personalities
Some individuals are introverts, while others are extroverts. Online home-based jobs can be a blessing for introvert people who enjoy sitting alone and do work. They do not like to interact with people but also need to work to carry on their day to day expenses.
Benefits of Working from Home in Quarantine Situation
The world progress and finds a way to make life more comfortable and reliable. Many research studies and studies have been conducted to enhance the quality of life. But as life progresses, so does the life-threatening causes. The recently novel coronavirus is a serious threat to the human race. It has caused many deaths and is continuously spreading.
In order to stop it from spreading, specific measures have been taken. In the business community, the spread of this virus is causing a great loss. In order to continue the business, it is considered to work from home online rather than at offices because the public gathering is one of the major reason for the spread of this virus. The technologies which can help in such a situation include cloud infrastructure and e-learning solution.
The e-learning is used for most academic purposes. Even if not in a quarantine situation, many universities all over the world provide this facility. It helps students of far fetch areas to get a quality education. It excludes the living, transportation expenses of students and thus provides them with an opportunity to learn from their homes. This technology can be used in a quarantine situation for schools and colleges where students gather on day to day basis.
Similarly, for the business, the cloud infrastructure can be used, which helps your business to be saved and your employees to be healthy. In a quarantine situation, employees can work from home with the help of online services. It can be helpful in many ways, like cutting down expenses of electricity and cooling, maintenance of servers, up-gradation, and many more. The cloud infrastructure is more reliable and efficient as it has a minimum chance of error. It provides a higher level of data security, which is a high-risk task.
The cloud infrastructure provides security against data theft and also against natural disasters. The data is not physically stored, so it is saved from natural disasters. The heads of the businesses can keep the workers or employees motivated by providing motivational emails. The outspread of the virus is causing fear among the masses, and employees are also hesitant to join the office. In such a situation, work from home or online can be handy and necessary to keep the business running.
Major Events cancel because of Corona Virus
Many events all around the world have been canceled or postponed due to the concerns of the novel coronavirus. Many public gatherings can be the cause of spreading this virus. Major sports events or cultural all have been either restricted to a limited number of people or canceled all way down.
The BNP Paribas Open tournament for tennis has been postponed when a local was confirmed with coronavirus as it was held in Indiana Well, Calif. The FIFA World Cup 2022 Asian Qualifiers round has also been postponed, which was going to be held at Qatar. Chinese Grand Prix, a formula one race, is also postponed, which was earlier scheduled for April 2020. In Italy, the public gathering has been banned, even going to church has been prohibited.
Any other celebration which includes parade or people coming together has been canceled. Many amusement parks, theme parks, and museums have been closed in Japan. Music concerts have been canceled in various countries. The 34th Annual South by Southwest festival, which was to be held from 13 – 22nd March 2020, was postponed when major tech companies like Apple, Facebook, Twitter withdrew from participation. Google canceled its event at Palo Alto, Calif, in which it usually launches new products or services. The book festival of Tuscon, which usually gathers 100,000 people around the country, has been canceled too, as it was to be held from March 11-15. The blockbuster movie “No time to die” of the James bond franchise has also been postponed till November. China has shut down all its theaters, causing its 9 billion dollar loss annually.
Conclusion
The novel coronavirus is a life-threatening virus. It is causing serious damage to the human race in terms of life losses as well as economic losses. The damage can be controlled by acquiring certain measures in every field, which it is affecting. When there is a will, there is a way.
Business cannot be as effective as they were, but still, they can continue to survive and again flourish to its full bloom after the coronavirus outbreak ends . The world is already adapting by moving all infrastructure to cloud. The current situation will divide businesses to those who can adapt to the new reality and work online and those who will close until the situation is resolved later in the year.
Contact Us – We will help you to arrange cloud infrastructure and move your business online
Call us: 1300 911 147
References we used to prepare this article:
https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/diseases/Pages/coronavirus.aspx
https://health.nt.gov.au/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-covid-19 https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus