Stay Healthy, Stay Safe
Making the world a healthier place has been our mission for over a decade. We’ve encouraged people to stay active, to sleep better, to take good care of themselves to not only be fit and happy but to stay healthy and prevent chronic conditions and illness. But with an outbreak like the current COVID-19 virus, additional measures are critical to help keep everyone safe and healthy.
The workplace can have an enormous impact on the spread of the virus, so let’s all do our part and put employees first. At Fitbit, we’re recommending and encouraging our employees to work from home, we’re providing extra IT support to help employees utilize productivity and collaboration technology, we’re limiting visitors at our office locations, and we’ve implemented restrictions for non-essential business travel.
Curious what other organizations are doing? Here are some helpful resources:
Here’s an excellent resource from Mercer with surveys from companies around the world, perspectives from experts, and the opportunity to speak with one of their consultants.
This employer resource from the World Health Organization can help get your workforce ready for COVID-19. Take a look at their website for updates, ideas for how to protect your workplace, travel advice, technical guidance, and more.
The CDC’s website provides domestic and global updates, information for specific segments, and a weekly newsletter. If your employees are seeking general guidance about things they can do to stay healthy, focusing on foundational health behaviors such as increased physical activity, better sleep, better nutrition and mindfulness goes a very long way. We published an article in January about healthy habits to help fend off the flu, which is a good resource to share with employees. Encourage them to get a good night’s sleep, stay active, eat well, and take time to relax.
And as for testing, Vice President Mike Pence announced Wednesday that a group of major health insurance companies agreed to waive all copays for coronavirus testing – UnitedHealth, Humana, and Anthem among them. The companies made the pledge in a White House meeting following an announcement from Medicare and Medicaid that members would be covered for coronavirus testing and treatment. Read more about how other health insurance companies are responding to the coronavirus.