With a new novel flu virus poised to disrupt community and business operations this fall with the start of the flu season, the time is now for Atlanta area companies to prepare their workforces for what to expect and how to minimize the virus's spread.

So far, the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, has sickened more than a million people in the United States alone, with cases reported in at least 100 other countries. The H1N1 virus continues to infect people in the United States, with more widespread cases in the Southern Hemisphere, where flu season is under way.

Currently, people infected are experiencing a fairly mild illness, notes Lisa Koonin, senior adviser for CDC's Influenza Coordination Unit, who says there have been cases of hospitalization and death among certain groups at risk for flu complications such as pregnant women, and those with medical conditions like asthma, diabetes, heart disease or a compromised immune system. And, unlike traditional flu, H1N1 seems to be targeting children as well as young and working adults.

"With a low- to moderate-level pandemic, we are essentially dealing with the same mortality rate that we see with seasonal flu," adds Patrick O'Neal, director of the Division of Emergency Preparedness and Response in the Georgia Department of Community Health. Seasonal flu claims about 36,000 people each year in the United States.

What's of concern to public health officials is that H1N1, as a new virus, can spread to many individuals quickly since people have no built-in immunity yet to the virus. "We do expect a lot more people to contract the virus because of the lack of immunity," says O'Neal.

On a positive note, if the severity level stays where it is, officials will not be recommending school dismissals, cancellations of mass gatherings or other social-distancing measures, O'Neal notes. Back in April, when the first cases of H1N1 emerged, CDC guidance recommended school closure if one child was suspected or confirmed of having the virus, but has since revised its recommendations once data showed that the virus was not as severe as previously thought. O'Neal adds that the duration of sickness appears to be three or four days so most individuals with H1N1 will be absent from work approximately five days.

Timing of H1N1 Vaccine

The H1N1 vaccine is currently in clinical trials. Officials now expect initial doses to be available - if the trials are shown to be safe and effective - as early as Sept. 15. The Strategic National Stockpile would not be activated for antivirals unless the virus "becomes severe." To date, data coming out of the Southern Hemisphere suggest no mutations that would cause a worsening of severity of any consequence at all, O'Neal notes.

"We don't have any evidence to suggest that worsening will occur, but we still need to be prepared and our emergency plans need to incorporate worse-case scenarios just in case," O'Neal says. "A worse-case scenario would be a pandemic severity of four or five and the absenteeism rate in businesses would be up to 40 percent. We would be implementing social distancing measures such as school closures that would further drop the workforce.

"Obviously, small businesses are susceptible to disruption if a lot of people become ill, or substantial numbers have to stay out of work because there is illness in the community.

"Businesses play a very important role in a flu outbreak - one in protecting the health of their workforce, and two, in maintaining continuity of functions in the community," CDC's Koonin says. 

H1N1's potential economic impact is already hitting certain industries' bottom lines, such as travel and tourism. Delta Air Lines' CEO Richard Anderson warned June 22 that the H1N1 flu virus - as well as the general economic situation - has caused a slump in travel demand and cost Delta $250 million in second-quarter revenue. Convention centers in places like Las Vegas are seeing a 25 percent drop in convention attendance, but it's not clear how much of it is due to the general economic slowdown versus real health concerns in the community.

"We have not yet seen any impact from the H1N1 virus on Atlanta's $11.4 billion hospitality industry," says William Pate, president and CEO of the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau. "However, we are in regular contact with the appropriate organizations to monitor the situation.

"Koonin says CDC's top recommendation is for "sick people to stay out of the workplace and remain at home to rest and recover." Keeping people physically apart to prevent the spread of the illness requires businesses to adopt flexible and non-punitive leave policies. "You don't want a worker who is sick to do the mental calculus of 'If I stay home, am I going to lose my job," Koonin says.

Companies need to think now about critical job functions and roles required to maintain essential business operations and create backup plans for all them.

"The outbreak of H1N1 in April and the pandemic declared earlier in the year was a call to action to the entire business community," says Harrison Ferris, executive director of the Georgia Business Force, a non-profit, non-partisan coalition of critical infrastructure companies and the state's leading public-private partnership for homeland security in Georgia.

Ferris says responses have varied in the business community but companies have been preparing for it. "There is a great deal of uncertainty about the scope of the disease, its severity and duration. The business community is doing a lot to prepare - largely through education," he says.

A key concern that has come to the forefront is that companies work with their supply chain partners so that everyone is well prepared. "With just-in-time inventory, you need to ensure that critical components of your services and products are not missing because someone else down the supply chain hasn't prepared as diligently as you have," he says. 

Contingency plans in place at UPS

Many firms in Georgia already have corporate emergency recovery plans in place, and virtually every business is concerned about business disruption if significant numbers of people become ill.  Atlanta-based UPS, which has a presence in more than 200 countries and territories, has an active preparedness and contingency plan since the Avian flu issues emerged in 2005, says UPS spokesperson Susan Rosenberg. The company has just over 10,000 employees in Georgia, but employs 415,000 employees worldwide and is a critical partner for supply chains around the world.

"First and foremost, we look at what we need to do to educate our employees and management teams across the UPS enterprise globally. We are working with both CDC and the World Health Organization as far as their guidance for monitoring and appropriate communications.

"In addition to emphasizing preventive hygiene practices, UPS has contingency plans in place that allow the company to respond operationally to disruptions that might occur. "We have the ability to flex our network - to re-route or pre-process volume - we do that day in and day out when there is a storm or natural disaster that affects an area," Rosenberg says, pointing out that a similar approach can come into play when contingency planning for a health crisis that could result in employee absenteeism. She advises local businesses to "look at the communication channels of your service partners" and use your website to get information out to your customers and supply chain.

Pandemic Influenza Conference Sept. 21, Other Resources

There are many resources available for area businesses to learn what they can do to be better prepared. On Sept. 21, CDC, the Georgia Business Force, the Georgia Hospital Association and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce will host a pandemic influenza response conference for area businesses. The event will be held at CDC. Ferris says discounted registration fees will be offered to Chamber and Georgia Business Force members but the event will be open to all businesses. More details will be forthcoming on the Georgia Chamber of Commerce website.

Area businesses can access the latest information and guidance online. The federal government has set up a new website, www.flu.gov, which serves as a clearinghouse of information, and CDC offers significant resources on its H1N1 website. The Department of Homeland Security, in collaboration with CDC, has created a guide, 2009 H1N1 Influenza: A Preparedness and Response Guide for Small Business .

Companies also are urged to examine policies for leave and employee compensation and review with managers, supervisors, and employees so they are up-to-date on sick leave policies, leave donation, and employee assistance services that are covered under the different employee-sponsored health plans. They should plan for the possibility of unscheduled leave that encourages employees who are sick to stay at home to care for themselves and others who are ill with the flu or children dismissed from school. The government also urges companies to establish policies for flexible worksite (e.g., telecommuting) and flexible work hours (e.g., staggered shifts), if needed.

Communicate policies for employee access to, and availability of, health care, mental health, and social services including corporate and community resources.

Online resources to read more:
CDC H1N1 site – H1N1 Flu Resources for Businesses and Employers: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/business/
Flu.gov –
Workplace Planning Page/Business checklist: http://www.flu.gov/plan/businesschecklist.html
dch.ga.gov
health.state.ga.us/h1n1flu
ready.ga.gov

Anne Wainscott-Sargent is an Atlanta-based health and technology writer and communications consultant. Reach her at anne@annewainscott.com.