Policies for Precautions & Protocols Against COVID And Other Illness and Infection:
(published February 2020; last updated April 2024)

Notice to Our Clients - Preparedness & Protection

Against COVID-19 and other illness and infection

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COVID and other viruses are a serious threat to our individual health, our team, our livelihood and our business that serves our community.

We can mask on request, but otherwise aren’t masking when we work.

We will continue 100% adherence to protocols, and we ask that CLIENTS DO THE SAME FOR US. Help us by doing these things:

IMMEDIATELY NOTIFY US AND CANCEL our visits if:

  1. ANYONE in your home has symptoms of cold, flu, respiratory illness, or fever (100.4° F [37.8° C] or greater using an oral thermometer), please cancel your visit and stay home until both fever and any other symptoms are gone without the use of fever-reducing or other symptom-altering medicines (e.g. cough suppressants). We will return to work at your home when everyone has been fever-free for more than 24 hours and when the ill person is not in the home, or is masking and in another part of the home.
  2. ANYONE in your home tests positive for COVID-19.   We will return to work at your home a few days after the person’s positive test, when they’re recovered, when everyone has been fever-free for more than 24 hours, and when the person with COVID is not in the home, or is masking and in another part of the home.   (No need for documentation of a negative test, because some covid-positive cases continue to test positive after symptoms being resolved, when they are no longer contagious).

ALL CLIENTS accept these responsibilities for keeping yourselves and us all safer:

  1. Get fully vaccinated with the most recent flu vaccine and COVID bivalent booster.
  1. Tell us if you need us to wear a mask in your home
    Please let us know if you request that we mask inside your home; otherwise, we have a mask optional policy for all employees.
  2. Tell us in ADVANCE, every time we may cross paths with other people in your home and when they will be there, so that we can time our visits to miss them completely or so they can move to a different room or floor (maids, contractors, kids, family, or you).
  3. At home, leave soap and paper towels out for us by your sink. We may not use them in preference for minimizing the surfaces we touch, but if needed we want them in place and ready.
  4. Reduce your exposure by WEARING a mask when you’re sick or around sick people, and by WASHING your hands immediately after being in public places
    • Wash for 30+ seconds preferably using soap and warm water, over hand sanitizer or wipes
    • Avoid other people who are coughing or sneezing
    • Sneeze or cough into a tissue or into your sleeve, never your hand
  5. Our employees are doing the same.
    Our standard practice since 2004 has always been to to wash hands thoroughly at the end of every client visit, to prevent pet germs traveling from one home to the next.


CONTACTLESS CONSULTATIONS
We are offering free first consultations, by Zoom online video.   We may also meet new clients with dogs, outdoors, as outdoor “comfort visits”  to evaluate dogs’ level of comfort meeting our team.  We limit any time indoors with our employees and clients in the same indoor spaces.

CONTACTLESS PET SITTING
We prefer contactless indoor visits when pet owners are traveling – that means we will come in the home when no one else is indoors.  As a long-standing policy since 2004, we do not share pet sitting services with other people,  neighbors, friends, or family, due to our insurance. Let us know if we may cross paths with other people in your home when you’re not home and when they will be there, so that we can time our visits to miss them completely or so they can move to a different room or floor. (maids, contractors, kids, family).


CONTACTLESS DOG WALKING 

  1. CONTACTLESS SERVICE 100% EVERY VISIT: Clients who are working from home during midday dog walking should remain on another level or in another room when your dog walker arrives and departs. We prefer no indoor contact in the same room between APC team and clients.  Our team will let ourselves in the home as usual and call out softly with our name when we arrive so clients know who’s stepping in their home
  2. BAGS – Clients should leave an easily-reachable poop bag supply near the door we enter and exit, preferably a few individual grab-and-go bags not on rolls (already pulled off their perforation)
  3. TREATS – Clients should leave treats outside of containers if they wish for us to give a treat, or leave treat jar top off; APC will avoid touching treat jars or treat bags
  4. We can further modify arrival and departure routines 
    • FENCED YARDS – Clients with fenced yards could arrange in advance if they prefer to let their dog out to meet us in the yard, and if the client work doesn’t prevent them from getting up to let their dog out to us (calls, conferences, video meetings may necessitate APC team coming into the home anyway)
    • LEASH – APC team can bring their own washable nylon lead to clip to your dog’s regular harness or collar

We may cancel your visits if:

  1. The community is advised (by state or local officials, Health & Human Services, or other authorities) to quarantine or to take shelter in place or quarantine measures,
  1. The government directs any businesses to stop operations. We will alert you if any such measure affects our company or our operations.
  2. Our employees have symptoms of cold, flu, respiratory illness, or fever (100.4° F [37.8° C] or greater using an oral thermometer), we may cancel your visits if another employee is not available to cover.

Educate yourself with these online resources:  

Alexandria Pet Care, Inc. Employees -

Preparedness & Protection Measures Directive Against COVID-19 And Other Illness and Infection

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Use Local Information and Resources

https://www.alexandriava.gov/Coronavirus

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/covid19/

https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/covid-19-vaccine/ 

If You’re Sick, Have a Fever, Have a Cough, or Are Under the Weather

  1. Get tested for COVID immediately; urgent care locations can also test you for influenza, strep, and other illnesses. Some covid at-home tests are available in Alexandria for free at Alexandria libraries, daycares, and other sites.  Click to see testing locations, and information. 
  2. If you test negative:  you may work as soon as your symptoms resolve.  Have a second COVID test 3-5 days after the onset of symptoms.
  3. If you test positive for COVID, alert the APC office asap: You must stay home and not come to work until you’ve been fever-free for 24 hours and symptoms are mild or improving. A negative covid test is not required to return to work if symptoms are resolving and you are fever free for 24 hours.  
  4. Be aware, covid-positive people can sometimes test positive for 60 days or more after they’re no longer contagious.   They can also re-contract covid and not know it within that 90 day period, and therefore should take step up personal precautions of masking and distancing to protect all other people for 90+ days after contracting covid.

If you know of a COVID exposure or are contact traced, but do not have symptoms: 

  1. Wear a mask and you may work as long as you don’t have symptoms.  Get COVID tested on days 4-5 after exposure, and again 5 days later. See testing locations. 
  2. If testing negative, you may return to work the same day.
  3. If testing positive, follow guidelines above.

Mandatory Face Mask when clients request, or when a multi-family building mandates it.

At clients’ request, employees must wear a clean, tight, and form-fitting face mask without valve, that securely covers above your nose and under your chin. Face masks must be worn for all work indoors 100% of the time when requested. Masks may be removed for dog walks outdoors.

Optional Face Mask for all other work.

Otherwise, at employees’ discretion for the safety of themselves or others, employees may wear a clean, tight, and form-fitting face mask without valve, that securely covers above your nose and under your chin.

Face Mask guidance and supply provided to employees at work. 

Employees are strongly encouraged to mask with a KN-95 or other multi layer mask.   These are provided at the APC office, so let us know when you need to stop by for supply.

You may not wear a “triangle fold” bandana, or any other non-face mask facial covering (shirt, gaiter, scarf, turtleneck, any material that is single-layer, or any material not form-fitting above the nose to under the chin).

Acceptable face masks while at work must include these features:

  • 2+ layer fabric washable mask, 3+ layer surgical-style disposable, 5-layer KN95 mask
  • with nose wire to ensure a good seal around the nose
  • tight fitting
  • with fully unobstructed forward view and fully unobstructed clear downward vision (doesn’t stick out from face, doesn’t ride up under eyes, doesn’t touch lower eyelashes, doesn’t fall down nose)
  • with either ear loops or ties behind the head and neck

Mandatory Specific Germ Prevention Protocols:

  • Do not touch your eyes, nose, or mouth.  Use a tissue.
  • Wash your hands frequently, all day long
  • Practice superb hygiene:
    • Wash your hands for 30+ seconds (soap does NOT need to be anti-bacterial)
    • Use soap and warm water. Soap of ANY kind (bar, pump, liquid) is preferable and better for preventing COVID19 than antibacterial soap, wipes, or hand sanitizer.
    • Dry your hands thoroughly and use a paper towel to turn off water and to touch other surfaces after your hands are clean
    • Use hand sanitizer or antibacterial wipes when no soap is available
  • Wash your hands after every essential stop in public
    • client home,
    • gas station,
    • restaurant curbside pickup,
    • grocery curbside pickup, etc.
  • Avoid other people who are coughing or sneezing
  • Sneeze or cough into a tissue or into your sleeve, never your hand
  • Turn on lights with your elbow or knuckle, not your fingertip
  • Use a tissue to press client keypads – both garage door and alarm panel keypads
  • Avoid touching hard surfaces; use a tissue or paper towel  (use nitrile gloves if you wish – APC has a quantity to give to you.)
  • At the very end of EVERY client visit: wash your hands for 30+ seconds, dry your hands, and use the paper towel to touch every door and surface from the sink until you’re back in your car.  (NOTE: Final hand washing already is our year-round practice. All employees should be washing hands with soap as the last task before leaving each client home.)


Stay-Well Practices In Your Car: 

  • Keep car supplied with small trash bags, tissues, paper towels, baby wipes, soap, and sanitizer.  Employees may also use gloves if preferred.
  • Every time you get in the car, put the used paper towel from the client house directly into a trash bag
  • EVERY time you enter your car, use a pump of soap followed with a baby wipe (soap does NOT need to be anti-bacterial). Do not skip this step in preference for hand sanitizer.   You may use hand sanitizer in addition, following your soap.
  • Disinfect daily all the car interior surfaces that you regularly touch:
    • car door handle
    • dials and knobs (radio, heat, etc)
    • steering wheel
    • client keys, key supplies
    • your car keys
  • Toss nose tissues immediately into a bag for later disposal. Do not toss on the floor or set down on a console or other surface

Unvaccinated Employees

  1. APC does not require that employees be vaccinated or boosted.
  2. APC strongly encourages all employees and their families to be fully vaccinated according to CDC and their personal doctors’ recommendations.