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The United States is a few days into a partial shutdown with no certain end in sight. This closure of so many businesses is leaving most offices empty and much of the workforce depleted. 

To prepare for a continued pandemic situation, businesses need to put pandemic response management in place. In order to do this, FacilitiesNet suggests organizations do the following:

1. Appoint a pandemic response leader

Businesses need to put someone in charge of their pandemic response plans. In most cases, the top choice to lead this response would be the head human resources official, who would receive the help of the chief operating officer.

2. Perfect communication

Employees need to know exactly how they will maintain communication with their supervisors and coworkers.

3. Prioritize safety

The top priority of a pandemic response is to ensure the safety of employees. In order to do this, businesses should mandate that all workers who can work from home do work from home. Workers who must come into the office must be protected by policies that limit the spread of disease.

In all cases, every employee should be properly washing their hands and any sick employee must stay home.

4. Brace for impact on business

A business is going to be heavily impacted when the businesses it works with shuts down or is forced to change operations. It's important to communicate with customers regarding facility closings or product shortages. It's going to take a group effort.