• • Allowing sick employees to work from home or take a leave as appropriate. (89%)
  • Minimizing unnecessary travel. (87%)
  • Educate employees on the signs and symptoms of the Coronavirus, as well as the precautions to take. (74%)
    • Tools:
      • Poster of Coronavirus symptoms for the work place
      • Poster on “What you need to know and how to protect yourself from the Coronavirus” for the workplace
      • Educational videos from the CDC
  • Minimizing unnecessary meetings and visitors. (74%)
  • Establishing first-line points of contact within the HR team responsible for managing employee questions or concerns. (38%)
  • Implementing and/or evaluating workplace emergency response protocols. (35%)
  • Training supervisors about strategies to address overreaction from employees and conflict in the workplace. (13%)
  • Other:
    -Asking all employees to work from home. (Our survey shows the number of companies initiating this policy is on the rise.)
    -Doing mock drills to ensure company does not have disruption should employees need to work from home.
    -Creating internal COVID-19 Task Force.
    -Establishing a hotline for employees to call with questions.
    -Providing employees with access to hand sanitizers as well as sanitizing common touch points within the office, such as copy machines, coffee makers, door handles, etc.

• Providing other meeting options, such as video conferencing, to avoid travel. (78%)
• Monitoring and sharing travel advisories and warning with employees. (72%)
  • Click here for international travel news.
  • Click here for CDC’s live Travel Health Alert Notice.
• Suspending all travel to affected areas. (67%)
• Asking employees who have recently returned from affected regions to work from home. (50%)
• Implementing guidelines for travel to affected regions. (48%)
  • Click here for a sample Company Policy Memo developed by a BioNJ Member Company and issued to its’ global staff.
• Contingency planning for operations and supply-chain disruption that may occur due to travel restrictions in affected areas. (35%)
• Developing a policy to address employees who refuse to work with co-workers returning from travel in affected regions to avoid anti-harassment/discrimination. (8%)
• Other:
  – No U.S. travel to states that have declared a state of emergency.
  -Asking employees not to attend meetings of 20 or more individuals.
  -Allowing employees who have pre-existing medical conditions, childcare needs or other concerns related to COVID-19 to work from home.

Click here to download a copy of the World Health Organization’s guide to developing a
“Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan for the New Coronavirus

• Defining when an ill employee must stay home, when an ill employee will be sent home and when and in what circumstances the employee may return to work. (87%)
• When an employer may require an ill employee – or those who have been exposed – to be quarantined. (63%)
• Whether the employer will pay employees for the time spent in quarantine as well as an outline of benefits available to employees. (58%)
• What illnesses or exposure to illness an employee must disclose to the employer, and when and how such disclosure should be made. (52%)
• Other: Allowing employees who have pre-existing medical conditions, childcare needs or other concerns related to COVID-19 to work from home.

• Yes (22%)
• N0 (79%)

• NJ A3095 (20R) provides county clerks an extra week to mail ballots for the 2020 primary election.
• NJ 3840 (20R) requires schools to provide school meals and meal vouchers to students entitled to free and reduced lunches for as long as facilities are closed due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
• NJ A3843 (20R) directs the State’s Medicaid program and health benefit plans to cover Coronavirus testing. The Governor took similar action last week, advising plans to cover Coronavirus testing as well as emergency room, urgent care and office visits. The guidance applies to any health plan available through the state’s individual, small and large group marketplaces.
• NJ A3845 (20R) allows the Economic Development Authority to extend grants to small businesses impacted by the virus.
• NJ A3848 (20R) would prohibit employers from firing workers who need to take time off because of the Coronavirus.
• NJ A3849 (20R) grants some flexibility for custodians under the State’s open records law, extending the time frame by which they have to respond to requests during a state of emergency, public health emergency or State of local disaster emergency.
• NJ A3850 (20R) allows public bodies to conduct business remotely, or using electronic means, during a period of emergency.
• NJ A3851 (20R) would extend the deadline by which local and county governments have to adopt their budgets during periods when New Jersey is in a state of emergency or public health emergency.
• NJ A3854 (20R) would allow licensed health care facilities to collect swabs during the period covered by Murphy’s public health state of emergency and grants Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli the ability to waive any staffing requirements for those facilities during that period.
• NJ A3855 (20R) would require the State’s departments and agencies to put information about accessing food on public notifications relating to public health emergencies.
• NJ A3861 (20R) would allow corporations to hold shareholders’ meetings remotely, rather than in person, during a state of emergency.
• NJ A3865 (20R) would allow grocery stores to limit returns of goods purchased during the current public health state of emergency.
• NJ AJR158 (20R) urges the FCC to take temporary measures to secure broadband access for those affected by COVID-19.
• Executive Order (EO) Number 107 provides that “all New Jersey residents shall remain home or at their place of residence,” with certain specified exceptions. With regard to life sciences companies, EO 107 provides an exception for any business with “employees that cannot perform their functions via telework or work-from-home arrangements” provided that the business makes “best efforts to reduce staff on site to the minimal number necessary to ensure that essential operations can continue.”  It also provides examples of such employees who cannot work remotely, including “lab technicians.” Click here for details.

• Rowan makes hand sanitizer for emergency use
• Medical Professionals Across Merck & Co., Inc., Pfizer Inc., and Eli Lilly and Company Activate to Support Health Systems, First Responders and Patients Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
  
• BD, BioGX receive FDA emergency use authorization for COVID-19 diagnostic
• Rutgers Launches Genetic Testing Service for New Coronavirus
• Johnson & Johnson says Human Testing of its Coronavirus Vaccine to Begin by September
• BIO Summit Accelerates Collaboration in Fight Against COVID-19
• NJ biotech lab says it has a treatment for very sick COVID-19 patients
• An Update On Drugs In Development For COVID-19
• BIO’s Portal: The Coronavirus is No Match for Science — Share What You Need, and How You Can Help
• BIO Coronavirus Hub FAQ
• Video Message from Jim Greenwood
• Rutgers creates COVID-19 center to fight pandemic
  
• Akers Biosciences Acquires Licenses to COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate
• Merck to Donate 300,000 Masks to New Jersey for COVID-19 Emergency Response
• Rutgers Launches COVID-19 Center to Aid Pandemic
• An informative  infographic to share across your social media platforms on how the biopharma industry is leading the charge.
• PhRMA’s Industry Fact Sheet — COVID-19
• America’s Biopharma Companies Working Around the Clock to Beat Coronavirus
• BIO/PhRMA Commitment to Beat Coronavirus
• Scientist.com Coronavirus Clinical Trials Dashboard
• BD, BioGx Submit FDA Emergency Use Authorization for COVID-19 Diagnostics
• Insmed Business Decisions in Response to COVID-19 and Suspension of Revenue Guidance
• Johnson & Johnson’s Response to COVID-19
• Lilly and AbCellera to Co-develop Antibody Therapies for the Treatment of COVID-19
• Novartis Announces Broad Range of Initiatives to Respond to COVID-19 Pandemic; Creates USD 20 Million Global Fund to Support Impacted Communities
• Novartis Commits to Donate up to 130 Million Doses of Hydroxychloroquine to Support the Global COVID-19 Pandemic Response
• Pfizer Outlines Five-Point Plan to Battle COVID-19
• Pfizer and Biontech to Co-Develop Potential COVID-19 Vaccine 
• Regeneron to Treat Coronavirus Patients this Week in Trial Using its Rheumatoid Arthritis Drug
• Sanofi’s COVID-19 Vaccine Development Efforts
• Sanofi and Regeneron Speed Kevzara into Coronavirus Trials
• Soligenix and University of Hawaii at Manoa Initiate Work on Novel Coronavirus Vaccine for COVID-19
• Teva, Bayer Donate Drugs to Target Coronavirus
• Teva to Donate Potential COVID-19 Treatment, Hydroxychloroquine Sulfate Tablets to Hospitals Nationwide