Planning Assumptions for your Pandemic Implementation Plan

Pandemic are unpredictable. While history offers useful benchmarks, there is no way to know the characteristics of a pandemic virus before it emerges. Use the following assumptions to assist you when developing your pandemic implementation plans.

• Multiple employees will be out on extended sick leave at the same time
• Universal susceptibility to the pandemic influenza
• Clinical disease rate will be 30% in the overall population. Illness rates will be highest amongst school-aged children (about 40 percent) and decline with age. Among working adults, an average of 20% will become ill during a community outbreak.
• Risk groups for severe and fatal infection are likely to include infants, the elderly, pregnant women, and persons with chronic or immunosuppressive medical conditions.
• Ensure systems are in place for receiving and disseminating reliable health information
• Assume that there will be 2-3 waves of the virus over a 12-18 month period of time
• Each wave will last 8-12 weeks long
• People will be ill for 2-4 weeks
• Cumulative absentee rate will be 25-40%
• Build your plans based on the fact that a virtual workspace is the only real solution that could really be effective during a pandemic outbreak
• Strategies to Promote Employee Wellness that can begin now that would benefit a company during a pandemic outbreak include encouraging sick employees to stay home, conducting health education campaigns (including Hand washing and Cover your cough) and encouraging routine health maintenance (e.g. Annual flu shots, Employee wellness programs)
• The typical incubation period (interval between infection and onset of symptoms) for influenza is approximately 2 days
• On average, infected persons will transmit infection to approximately 2 other people
• Some common non-medical intervention and prevention procedures include
  · Hand washing and Purell dispensers in every bathroom
  · Frequent risk communications
  · Personal Protective Equipment (e.g. Surgical Masks)
  · Limit spread of infection by decreasing amount of domestic and international travel