Carmen Alonso García-Mochales
15 April 2020
In light of the unprecedented challenges we are currently facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, pig333 contributed by creating material that will help swine producers, and agricultural workers in general, to remain healthy.
As with previous infographics, the objective of this video is to continually promote best biosecurity practices. In this case, our biosecurity recommendations target the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 transmission amongst work groups within the farm. We hope that the video is helpful in demonstrating the following 5 measures:
1. Organize your farm workers into teams according to areas of production and maximize social distancing between and within these teams using both time and space.
To minimize the spread of the disease within a farm work group, it is recommended to maximize social distancing whenever possible. In farms that are large enough, social distancing can be practiced both within and between production teams (i.e. farrowing, breeding, nursery, and finishing). Separating them as much as possible in time (i.e. separate arrival and break times) as well as by space. We highlight the fact that even off farm activities are important to consider. In the video, workers from different groups (i.e. workers 1&2 and 3&4) should not share the same vehicle to commute to the farm. If any worker does not feel well, she/he should stay home. In the video, we also show that even though worker #2 may be feeling well, there is still a possibility they may be infected and shedding the SARS-CoV-2 before showing any evident clinical signs of COVID-19. Do not forget that some infected people may show very mild clinical signs (i.e. running nose, sneezing, and coughing) common to many other conditions like common colds or allergies. Finally, the video exemplifies the strategic use of scheduling to separate team workers by starting their workday 1 hour apart. The necessary time could be adjusted as needed to keep common areas (i.e. entry rooms, showers, dressing rooms, etc..) clean and free of traffic.
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Image Source – Canva.com