Elon Physical Plant and Elon Dining are taking steps to clean campus and protect students, faculty and staff from the coronavirus, COVID-19, as it spreads globally.
As the university prepares to transition to online learning for the two weeks following Spring Break – March 23 to April 5 – Physical Plant and Elon Dining are working to prevent the spread of coronavirus, COVID-19, in the campus community.
Tom Flood, assistant vice president of physical plant, says the department is taking a number of steps to assess and prevent all potential risks to campus.
“We are here to serve this community and to keep them well cared for and safe,” Flood said. “So we’ll keep the buildings open and everything clean and disinfected.”
Flood says the university has plenty of cleaning and disinfecting supplies, as well as safety equipment, to allow staff members to safely prevent the spread of any infectious diseases on campus. Physical Plant typically ramps up cleaning and disinfecting measures from fall through winter to combat the spread of the flu, and Flood says those practices will continue.
During Spring Break, staff will perform a deep clean of every classroom and spend extra time cleaning and disinfecting common areas like Belk Library. The department will focus on cleaning and disinfecting “high-touch” surfaces like door knobs, faucets, countertops and computers. Staff will also more frequently clean Elon’s BioBus vehicles, disinfecting the buses following every shift.
Physical Plant recently went through infectious disease training in which they discussed safety precautions for preventing the spread of all infectious diseases. The training included a review of the department’s cleaning standards and disinfecting practices. Every member of Physical Plant received the training to ensure the proper implementation of department policies across campus.
Elon Dining and campus dining provider Harvest Table Culinary Group are also monitoring coronavirus on a daily basis and taking precautions to protect the campus community in dining halls.
Elon Dining has made two notable changes to protocols, transitioning many self-service stations to food stations serviced by dining staff and discouraging the use of reusable mugs a campus drink machines. Director of Auxiliary Services Carrie Ryan says the department will continue to monitor COVID-19 and make adjustments to standard protocol as necessary.
“Safety for the university community and the Elon Dining employees is paramount,” Ryan said.
For more information about COVID-19 and the actions the university is taking to prevent the spread of the virus on campus, as well as all updates related to the virus, visit the university’s dedicated coronavirus website at www.elon.edu/coronavirus.