Our Guidance on COVID-19

We are aware of the concerns about the risks from the COVID-19 virus, we are liaising with Public Health England (PHE) and the NHS, and closely following official advice. Autism Plus would like to offer reassurance of our commitment to ensuring the health and safety of the people we support and our staff is our top priority.

In order to help us mitigate the risk of the virus being brought into our services, we are doing the following:

• Invoking our business continuity plan
• Contacting all parents
• Cancelling non essential meetings and visitors
• Increasing cleaning regimes
• Minimising the use of shared spaces

If you have been in contact with someone with confirmed coronavirus or have returned from an affected area identified by the government as high risk, we respectfully request that you do not visit our services until you have either self-quarantined for 7 days, presenting no symptoms or alternatively contact the NHS.

We are following our infection control procedures and in addition, we ask that you practice the following measures detailed below to ensure the safety of everyone in our services:

• Wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds
• Always wash your hands when you get home or into work
• Use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze
• Put used tissues in the bin immediately and wash your hands afterwards
• Try to avoid close contact with people who are unwell (2 metres / 3 steps away)

If you have any questions about using our services or whether you should visit, please speak directly with the relevant manager who will be happy to address your concerns.

The situation is subject to change and we are monitoring the guidance regularly to ensure that our arrangements remain consistent with expert advice. If this guidance changes then we will update our advice accordingly.

If you have any questions you can contact us on 01405 812128 or email communications@autismplus.co.uk