Updated 4/14/2020: The White House and the CDC released this graphic on how you can help slow the spread of the virus over 30 days (ending on April 30th, 2020). For those of us who work in housing, whether you’re a property manager or owner/agent, here are some ways you can relate this general information to your job and your interaction with your residents.

Last Updated 3/18/2020: If you feel sick, stay home. Do not go to work. Contact your medical provider. Even if there is work to do in the office, it is not worth it to the other people in the office or any of the residents you would interact with. The greatest good we can do right now is to do our part in slowing the spread of this virus.

If your children are sick, keep them at home. Do not send them to school. Contact your medical provider. This can be something you can stress to your residents in Multifamily. Although children might be the least likely to suffer from the virus, it is very easy for them to transmit the virus wherever they go. So avoid your children visiting grandparents or elderly friends. If your children are sick, try explaining to them that the best way for them to love their grandparents right now is to keep their distance.

If someone in your household has tested positive for the coronavirus, keep the entire household at home. Do not go to work. Do not go to school. Contact your medical provider. Pass this along to your residents. While it may seem intuitive, emphasizing it will help clarify any discrepancy that a potentially uninformed resident may have.

If you are an older person, stay home and away from other people. For those of you property managers and owners/agents who have elderly properties, be sure to pass this along to your residents. And do so in a way that the message is the most likely to be received. Nowadays it seems as though everyone is on social media, yet the elderly (the most vulnerable group to this virus) in some cases are the least active on social media. So consider printing out flyers and sending out emails to all your elderly residents stressing the importance of staying home and avoiding contact with other people.

If you are a person with a serious underlying health condition that can put you at increased risk (for example, a condition that impairs your lung or heart function or weakens your immune system), stay home and away from other people. Persons with an underlying health condition are just as vulnerable as the elderly in this crisis. So stressing the importance of this to those who are subject to it helps just as much in slowing the spread of the virus to those who are most vulnerable.

Again, while all this may seem intuitive and an annoying redundancy of information, emphasizing it will help clarify any discrepancy that a potentially uninformed person may have. While it is easy to assume that everyone understands this crisis at the same level, that is simply not the case. In reality, all your residents are receiving their information on the virus at different rates. Some of your residents may be constantly checking the news for updates while other residents may be working all day and not see updates until later in the day. So be sure to keep your residents and staff updated as best as you can on the incoming information of what they can do to help slow the spread of this virus.

The graphic above gives more specific recommendations of how you can do your part at slowing the spread of COVID-19.

• Work or engage in schooling from home whenever possible.
• If you work in a critical infrastructure industry, as defined by the Department of Homeland Security, such as healthcare services and pharmaceutical and food supply, you have a special responsibility to maintain your normal work schedule. You and your employers should follow CDC guidance to protect your health at work.
• Avoid social gatherings in groups or more than 10 people.
• Avoid discretionary travel like shopping trips and social visits.
• Practice good hygiene: Wash your hands especially after touching any frequently used item or surface. Avoid touching your face. Sneeze into a tissue, or inside of your elbow. Disinfect frequently used items and surfaces as much as possible.

Although these measures seem extreme, following them will help flatten the curve of COVID-19 cases.