Businesses told to gear up for a coronavirus outbreak here

Tuesday, 4 February 2020

The Chinese government is strengthening disinfection measures to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

BusinessNZ has told employers how to prepare for an outbreak of coronavirus.

As well as taking basic hygiene measures, it recommends setting up systems for staff to report suspected cases of infection and to identify and inform contacts.

It also raises the possibility of employers seeking Government support for lost wages if workers are not sick, but are quarantined by health authorities.

BusinessNZ manager of employment relations policy Paul Mackay said it was 'a bit of a fluid situation' with information about the virus changing 'minute by minute' so they thought it was best to be prepared if cases were confirmed.

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New Zealand has not yet had any cases of coronavirus but director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield has warned it is a matter of when, not if, we get one. There have so far been more than 17,000 cases confirmed worldwide, although the disease is largely concentrated in China.

'It's time to do more than say 'let's hope it doesn't come here', but be ready if it does.'

New Zealanders evacuated from Wuhan by the Government will be quarantined in a military facility north of Auckland.

Other Kiwis returning from China have been told to self-isolate for two weeks to cover the incubation period of the virus which has so far killed about 360 people, all but 12 in the Hubei region in China.

Last February more than 17,000 New Zealand residents arrived back from visiting China.

However, Mackay said it was unclear how many would be returning this year and heading back to work.

If a worker was not sick, but chose to stay away because of the risk of infection, they could work from home or take annual or sick leave.

Fonterra has an emergency plan ready to kick off in the event of a widespread coronavirus outbreak.

BusinessNZ recommended a similar approach for people who were quarantined by authorities, even though they showed no signs of illness, but in that circumstance, employers could also consider seeking compensation to cover lost wages.

'If this thing kicks off and large numbers of people have to stay home there will be an impact on business, and the Government has acknowledged through their action plan that Government assistance may need to be considered as part of the response,' said Mackay.

The Government chose Defence Force land, about 40km north of downtown Auckland, to house coronavirus refugees.

An employer who insisted a worker stay away as a health and safety measure, or opted to close the workplace, could require staff to take annual leave if that was in accordance with their contract.

When there were no such provisions, the employer should continue to pay staff, said BusinessNZ.

The checklist for managing the workplace risk outlined basic measures such as 'hygienic coughing and sneezing,' removing magazines from lunch rooms and reception areas, and provision of protective gear if required.

It recommended staying at least a metre away from others, replacing meetings with phone calls, video conferencing or email contact.

Introduction of shifts, staggered start and finish times and having staff work from home helped to ensure fewer people were together at once.

Some companies have already taken the virus risk on board.

Fonterra said it was monitoring the situation closely and it had an emergency plan if a serious outbreak occurred here, but it declined to go into details about how milk would be picked up or factories would be kept running.

Work-related travel between New Zealand and China, where the company has 1500 staff, has been restricted since last week.

'As a precaution … we're asking employees who have recently returned from mainland China to self-isolate for a period of 14 days ,' said Mike Cronin, Fonterra's managing director of co-operative affairs.

Council of Trade Unions president Richard Wagstaff said it was important workplaces sorted out policies 'before people fall by the wayside.'

If workers had to stay home to prevent infection, employers should consider granting them additional sick leave if necessary.

'The last thing we want is for people to be back at work because they don't have enough [leave].'

There was also concern about the potential for racial discrimination.

'Viruses don't discriminate and neither should we. There's a tendency to view it as an Asian problem, but that's a terrible way to see it. It's a problem for all of us, so let's join together and fix it,' Wagstaff said.

Additional reporting by Catherine Harris