State, local officials emphasize telecommuting to fight coronavirus spread

Mar. 14--BOULDER and DENVER -- While having large portions of a company's workforce out of the office and working from home might not be ideal in terms of fostering a cohesive corporate culture, the alternative of potentially exposing employees to the coronavirus could be far more costly to businesses, Colorado health and emergency management leaders said Thursday.

"If you want to get ahead of the curve, create a virtual environment and work from home policy," Boulder Office of Emergency Management Mike Chard said during a COVID-19 roundtable with local business leaders hosted by the Boulder Chamber.

While business owners might balk at the idea of empty office spaces during the current health crisis, "gaps are more difficult to cover when everyone is out" of work because they're sick, Chard said. Adopting telecommuting policies can be a "great mitigation strategy to reduce the risk of businesses spreading disease within their staffs."

COVID-19 is a new strain of the coronavirus family that has infected more than 130,000 people globally.

"We think that telecommuting will be a really effective tool in helping contain the spread of COVID-19 when we do see a community transmission," said Scott Bookman, who is managing the Colorado Department of Public Health's coronavirus response. "We also think this is an important time to do continuity of operations planning for businesses to be able to prevent people from getting sick ahead of time and keep their work going."

Chard stressed the importance of businesses not only being prepared, but also being agile.

"Cases are changing from hour to hour," he said, and it's key for businesses leaders to be willing to adapt to new circumstances as they arise.

How Chard and Bookman delivered their messages Thursday was telling. Rather than hold a traditional press conference, CDPH officials spoke to reporters via a web chat application to avoid bringing together a large group of people. The chamber's roundtable was still held in person -- attendance was sparse and some participants skipped the event -- but it was also live streamed on Facebook to allow viewers to watch from home.

The Boulder Chamber event was conceived as a wide-ranging conversation about health care and insurance issues facing the local business community. The focus narrowed significantly as the coronavirus continued to spread in recent days.

"We recognized that we needed to pivot," Boulder Chamber president John Tayer said.

It's important for organizations like chambers of commerce to take leadership roles during turbulent times for the business community, he said.

"We want to be a resource for businesses and the public," he said.

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