With over 11 million confirmed cases and over 500,000 deaths worldwide, many questions surrounding COVID-19 still remain: Is it safe to reopen the office for business? How do we protect our employees and what should workspaces look like? When can we safely start traveling domestically and internationally?

Several states continue to set records for daily new cases, including California, Texas, Arizona, Georgia, and Florida. At least 16 states have paused or rolled-back reopening efforts. California, Florida, and Texas have all ordered bars to close or to halt on-premises alcohol sales. Multiple states have mandated masks be worn in all indoor public areas.

Several states are setting records for daily new cases, including California, Texas, and Florida. These states are also seeing increased hospitalizations, prompting governors to take action. Texas governor Greg Abbott urged residents to stay home after the state recorded 5,000 new infections. California governor Gavin Newsom announced that all residents must wear face masks in public. 

While many businesses are beginning to bring employees back into the office in a phased approach, the COVID-19 pandemic remains a very active threat. To ensure the proper health and safety employee protocols are implemented, the CDC, WHO and OSHA have all released guidance on how to navigate reopening workplaces. These guidelines focus on a variety of topics, including the importance of social distancing, hygiene protocols, identification and isolation of sick patients, employee trainings, workplace controls, and more.

As lockdown restrictions ease, businesses are slowly starting to return to travel. However, with that comes risks and questions that companies must be prepared to address.

“When greenlighting travel, companies will need to do their homework and assume the potential expense of self-quarantines or rerouted itineraries to get employees home safely. With state and nationwide restrictions changing from week to week, that can add up,” says Mike McGarrity, Vice President for Global Risk Services, in Bloomberg’s recent article “The New Rules of Travel for Road Warriors.”

Several states are seeing sustained increases in daily new cases. California, Texas, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Arizona, Arkansas, Oregon, Oklahoma, and Utah are among those in this category.
 

On 9 June 2020, Global Guardian hosted a special webinar on the upcoming hurricane season, featuring Erik Antons, Former Vice President of Security for Hyatt Hotels, Dale Buckner, Chief Executive Officer, Global Guardian, Mike McGarrity, Vice President of Global Risk Services, Global Guardian, and Andrew Hersh, Head of Critical Infrastructure Practice, Lockton Companies.

Dale Buckner, Global Guardian’s CEO and President, will be joining the BNI team for a special webinar on the future of business in a world with COVID-19. Mark your calendars and register today for "It's no longer business as usual: Operating in a world with COVID-19" taking place on Tuesday, June 30 at 9:00 am EDT. 

Join us for our upcoming webinar: 'One Country, Two Systems: A Special Webinar on the Status of Hong Kong' on Wednesday, June 24 from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm EST.

Planning your “new” summer vacation? “Be brave, but...don't be foolish” says Michael McGarrity, Vice President of Global Risk Services in USA Today’s recent article, "The new reality of vacationing: Don’t be afraid but don’t be overconfident, either."