COVID-19 GUIDELINE FOR VOLUNTEERS
Meals on Wheels Waco is committed to protecting the health and safety of our seniors, volunteers, staff, stakeholders, and the communities we serve. We are taking precautions to keep our clients, volunteers, and staff well while we monitor the situation. As an organization that serves seniors, we can help protect our clients and ourselves by following common sense procedures.
If You Are Not Feeling Well or Have Travelled
Common symptoms of the coronavirus are fever, cough, and shortness of breath. If you have any of these symptoms, please do not come in to work/volunteer and call your doctor for guidance.
If you have been exposed to or in contact with someone that has COVID-19 or have travelled to an area that has an active outbreak of COVID-19 (both domestically or out of the country), please stay home and self-isolate for 14 days as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Take these steps to monitor your health and practice social distancing:
- Take your temperature with a thermometer two times a day and monitor for fever. Also watch for cough or trouble breathing.
- Stay home and avoid contact with others.
- Do not take public transportation, taxis, or ride-shares during the time you are practicing social distancing.
- Avoid crowded places (such as shopping centers and movie theaters) and limit your activities in public.
- Keep your distance from others (about 6 feet or 2 meters).
If you’re feeling ill, stay home. Call your site coordinator or the MOW office at 254-752-0316 and leave a message. Stay home both to give yourself some rest and also protect other people in the community.
If You Are Well, Take Precautions
Avoid close contact with clients to protect you both. Many of you are accustomed to giving hugs or handshake – during this uncertain period, please refrain from doing so. Use common sense when delivering meals, and remember to be respectfully cautious and mindful of personal space. Avoid standing close to anyone who has cold- or flu-like symptoms.
Get a flu vaccine if you have not already. It’s not too late!
Wash your hands. Hand-washing is a good practice to reduce exposure to illnesses that can dampen the immune system, making people more susceptible. During this outbreak, consider washing your hands at the beginning and end of each volunteer shift and if you have it, use hand sanitizer between home deliveries.
Note to Site Coordinators
Routinely clean all frequently touched surfaces at your site – tables, doorknobs, handicap door button, etc.
Educate/inform volunteers. Remind them about good hygiene, cover coughs and sneezes with tissue or sleeves (not hands!), and staying home if they are not feeling well.
Be vigilant. Check in with your volunteers regularly, ask about their health or whether they have travelled outside of your area/county, and inform the Waco office accordingly.
We will be keeping a close eye on the situation as it develops and notify everyone of any updates. Thank you for all that you do on behalf of our homebound seniors. Please be safe and take care of yourselves!
