31 in 31: The Latest Lessons of COVID-19

Is there – finally – a cause for optimism in the ongoing fight against COVID-19? With late summer bringing a drop in cases in some areas of the U.S., TAG President and CEO Dr. David Acheson sees a glimmer of hope – but we are not out of it yet by any means. Thus was Dr. Acheson’s introduction to the latest FSMA Friday webinar, 31 Days of COVID Updates in 31 Minutes (or Less!), in which he discussed TAG’s proprietary 50-State Risk Matrix and Risk Scenario Matrix by which TAG tracks each state’s virus testing, total positive rates (TPR), social distancing, and other outbreak data to provide week over week trends – for predictive analyses and industry recommendations. Key takeaways from the webinar include:

• TAG matrices are showing that we may be collectively turning a corner, but there is still quite a bit of variation between states, so “we absolutely cannot relax for one second.”
• Keeping up the basics (see TAG’s Hierarchy of Controls), reminding employees it is just as important to protect themselves when not at work, and no control works alone, it is the collective that reduces risk.
• The top challenges now are testing (who, how much, how to use, what to do with the results); travel (should your or shouldn’t you; do you need to quarantine; is it safe?); opening offices (work from home doesn’t work for all, what needs to be considered?); the impacts of back to school (from K-12 to college).
• The future – how long will we be in this? Will there be a fall surge? What about vaccines, treatments, and the ongoing challenges of emotional and economic impacts?

In the succinct 31 in 31 presentation, Dr. Acheson provides expert insight on each of these and addresses viewer questions to provide an even greater overview of today’s COVID impacts, best practices, and recommendations for business continuity. View the webinar replay here for Dr. Acheson’s full presentation.