Coronavirus Covid-19 Pandemic
Currently across the world and here in the UK, we are each experiencing unprecedented times, with the Coronavirus/ Covid-19 outbreak. We know this is a period of worry and many unknowns, for our tenants, the Team, and also their families.
As ever, the health, safety and wellbeing of our tenants and the Team remain our highest priority. For our current tenants, this is your home and we intend to do all we can to ensure it continues to feel that way.
We are working hard and doing everything we can to ensure we provide the best support we can, as the situation continues to evolve.
Caro Lettings will be:
• providing helpful, reliable information or guidance.
• ensuring clean, sanitary shared communal areas, that helps to reduce the risk of spreading or catching the virus.
• monitoring the advice of only official bodies and government advice, to ensure any information we share is highly reliable.
• continuing to provide support to residents who feel worried or concerned about the situation.
What is COVID-19?
COVID-19 is a new (novel) illness that can affect your lungs and airways. It’s caused by a virus called a coronavirus.
The main symptoms are:
• a high temperature – you feel hot to touch on your chest or back
• a new, continuous cough – this means you’ve started coughing repeatedly
• shortness of breath
The NHS website is the best source of information about to the virus, its symptoms and the support you may need.
Caro Student Living/ Caro Lettings:
Caro Lettings has a full time, dedicated team in place, overseeing this situation. The team is responsible for monitoring the situation daily and for ensuring any information we share is updated to reflect changes to the situation or to the guidance.
What we’re already doing:
• We’ve increased our cleaning frequency across our property shared areas, with particular focus on contact points like entrances, lifts, door handles, social spaces, etc.
• We communicate regularly with our Team about hygiene advice and will continue to do so.
• We have and will continue to share the official public health advice for all our tenants.
• We’re supporting residents who are Staying at Home (‘self-isolating’) as a precaution, and ensuring they have someone to speak to online or via the telephone.
• We are working closely with our Lettings, University, hospitality partners & LSH to ensure our communication is clear to tenants.
• We are speaking regularly with suppliers and partners to ensure any goods or services required as part of the service we provide to you are not interrupted.
• We are monitoring our staff levels daily, in light of the increased number of people who may need to Stay at Home, to ensure we can continue to deliver the services you need.
What we’ll do when needed:
• In the event of a confirmed or suspected case in any of our properties, we will work closely with the public health bodies and take every instruction and guidance provided.
• We have specialist cleaning providers on-hand, in the event we are instructed to conduct a deep-clean of any of our spaces.
• If we need to make changes to the services we provide or to the access to your social spaces in our properties, we will communicate clearly with you, as soon as we can.
What our Tenants can do:
Every one of us needs to take responsibility for our own health and hygiene. The advice from the NHS and the public health bodies in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is below. We ask all tenants and Staff to follow this:
• wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds (as long as it takes to sing “Happy Birthday” twice)
• always wash your hands as soon as you get home or into University or other places of study
• use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available
• cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze (if you do not have a tissue, cough or sneeze into the crook of your elbow)
• put used tissues in the bin immediately and wash your hands afterwards
• try to avoid close contact with people who are unwell
The NHS website is regularly updated with all the latest advice.
What to do if other residents are not adhering to Government Advice:
If you notice other residents not following the Governments advice, you will need to bring this to their attention and politely ask them to take the necessary action.
Having politely asked them to follow the required guidance, if they ignore or refuse to do so, please notify a member of the Caro team immediately.
What happens if there is a confirmed case of Coronavirus Covid-19 in one of our properties?
We will act without hesitation, following the relevant authorities’ specific guidelines and instructions.
We will organise a professional deep clean of any areas that may have been affected by the alleged affected person/s may have been, upon direction of the relevant authorities.
Best measures will be taken to relocate/ advise anyone that may be vulnerable due to preexisting respiratory illness or immune deficiency conditions.
We will communicate with a residents and employees at that property and advise precautionary measure.
We will specifically advise those in the same shared accommodation to self-isolate of 14 days.
We will issue the latest Government and NHS guidelines on self-isolation.
What can I do to avoid becoming lonely?
We will be working on ideas to make the most of your time at home soon, but in the meantime, here are some top tips:
Video chat with friends and family
Create new “Whatsapp” or “WeChat” groups so everyone is involved in more conversations
Get stuck into a new project, this could be a puzzle, a craft, art, or try a new hobby
Play podcasts, there are many out there, or try Audible
Spend more time cooking, be creative and healthy dishes
Read more books
Social Media, share posts and comments more often
Exercise, try some online programs to perform different exercises
Deep clean your room/ apartment get into the jobs you have been putting off.
More detailed information about self-isolation can be found from the Government’s latest guidance notes.
Caro Tenants Living top tips to fighting the virus
As all our tenants live in shared / and individual accommodation, social distancing can be difficult, but you should follow the following guidance when in your accommodation:
Wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds
Always wash your hands when you get home or into your place of work/university
Use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available
Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze
Put used tissues in the bin immediately and wash your hands afterwards
Avoid close contact with people who have symptoms of coronavirus
Only travel on public transport if you absolutely need to
Complete work from home where you can
Avoid social activities, such as going to pubs, gyms, restaurants, theatres and cinemas and avoid events with large groups of people
Clean your bathroom and communal spaces and surfaces, as well as cutlery and crockery regularly
Use separate towels and hand towels to flat mates
Try and keep to social distancing advice and perhaps consider a bathroom or kitchen rota to minimise risk of infection within a cluster flat environment
Use phone, online services, or apps to contact your GP surgery or other NHS services
Do not…
Touch your eyes, nose or mouth if your hands are not clean
Have visitors to your home, including friends and family
Will University go ahead as usual in September?
John Moores University and University of Liverpool have both announced that the 2020-21 academic year is due to go ahead as scheduled, with a mixture of online and face-to-face tuition. You can read more about their announcements via the links below. We will post information about the other Universities in Liverpool, such as LMA and Liverpool Hope University, once they release their teaching plans. We are hopeful that University life will largely return to normal by September.
