COVID-19 Update
Caring for the Envida Community
The health and safety of Envida’s community is our priority. With recent news around coronavirus (COVID-19), we know you may have questions about how we can all do our part to keep the community healthy. We want to share the actions we’re taking to help protect riders and drivers — and what you can do to help.
SAFE TO RIDE: A letter from our Executive Director
UPDATED July 10, 2020
The COVID-19 virus has impacted everyone. Here at envida, we have remained open as an essential transportation and homecare business, supporting our governor’s “stay at home” order and now “safer at home.” As restrictions begin to lift, we are taking every precaution to ensure our clients and riders are safe. Most importantly, we want to communicate to our riders that it is SAFE to RIDE.
Our drivers wear gloves and masks, and we request that riders have masks or scarves. We have installed antimicrobial film on interior bus surfaces that require a high degree of hygiene. We disinfect vehicles after each rider, and we will open windows for fresh air, weather permitting. We have expanded service hours to meet riders’ needs: We are open from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. Our rural routes along U.S. Highway 24 and S.H. 94 have re-opened, operating five days a week. We have also begun serving Teller County to help those with medical and behavioral health needs access healthcare providers in Colorado Springs.
For information about our transportation services, questions, or updates, please visit our transportation pages at www.envidacares.org or call our transit line at 719-633-4677.
Additionally, for our home care clients, we offer telehealth visits, and our homecare attendants have been well versed on how to keep themselves and clients safe. For more information on telehealth visits, please call 719-301-6870.
We are closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation and will continue to take actions necessary to keep our clients, riders, staff and community safe and healthy. Any further updates will be posted here, or you can call us at 719-633-4601. envida cares.
Sincerely,
Gail Nehls
CEO, envida
What Envida is doing
- Closely monitoring the situation and taking action. We're following updates on COVID-19, including guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and local health officials. We'll continue to take actions necessary to help protect the community. Specifically, if we are notified of a rider or driver testing positive for COVID-19, he/she will be put on leave for quarantine as recommended by the CDC until medically cleared.
- Communicating with all of our staff, drivers and caregivers. We’ve reached out via email, in person and at meetings to tell all of our staff about the symptoms of the virus and how it spreads. We have given instructions on the protocols for safety measures (disinfecting hands, surfaces, buses, and covering coughs/sneezes with tissue or elbow) in the prevention of the spread of the Coronavirus and are taking all the steps we can to keep our staff, our clients and our riders safe.
- Helping with prevention. We have notified our staff and drivers to stay home if they are sick and contact their medical provider. We have put in place remote work policies for office staff and leave policies for those who are not able to work remotely, like our drivers, so that sick employees have an incentive to stay home if they are feeling ill.
- Taking action. We've embodied new protocols for our drivers and staff with disinfecting buses and work areas, and the CDC recommended hygiene.
What you can do
- Practice good hygiene. Wash your hands frequently for 20 seconds with soap and warm water. Cover your nose and mouth if you have to sneeze or cough with tissue or elbow. Use hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol content. Stay home if you are sick.
- If you need to see a doctor, work with a medical professional to discuss transportation options. Per the CDC, if you have been diagnosed with COVID-19 or suspect you may have it, you should not use ridesharing, paratransit, public transportation, or taxis.
Stay informed. The CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO) are updating their sites with the latest information.
We want you to know that we are doing all we can to respond to this situation. Ultimately, however, it is your decision as to what is best for you and your family and how you want to handle the threat of the coronavirus.
