The ANSI Federation and standardization community are stepping up with guidance, resources, and initiatives to support public health, safety, and infrastructure during the COVID-19 outbreak. ANSI is monitoring, sharing, and promoting appropriate news to highlight these efforts. Suggestions for news items may be submitted to [email protected]. All submissions are published at ANSI's discretion.
BOMA International Issues Best Practice Guidance for Fire Drills, Industrial Property Management
The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) has issued a guidance document to help property professionals to consider how to handle mandatory fire drill requirements and emergency or fire alarm evacuations as buildings re-open during the pandemic. "COVID-19: Preparing for Emergency Evacuations," updated in June 2020, encourages building owners and managers to work with local fire officials early on in the re-entry process to fire safety and mitigate further spread of COVID-19.
BOMA also recently released other guidance to aid property managers so that they can manage safety for industrial warehouse, distribution, and manufacturing facilities. The guidance, "Industrial Re-Set: Operational and Management Guidelines for Industrial Properties Amid COVID-19." The document can be used as a framework for developing more customized management and building plans and identifies questions and important topics that should be considered. BOMA notes that the task force focused its recommendations on buildings used solely for industrial purposes, such as warehouse, distribution, and manufacturing, and did not specifically address flex, showroom, and other types of specialized industrial properties.
Access these guidance documents, and more in BOMA's Coronavirus Resource Page.
Johnson & Johnson to Collaborate with HHS, DoD, to Produce 100 Million Doses of COVID-19 Investigational Vaccine
On August 5, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Defense announced an agreement with the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, to demonstrate large-scale manufacturing and delivery of the company's COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
HHS reports that under the terms of the agreement, the federal government will own the resulting 100 million doses of vaccine. Doses of the vaccination could be used in clinical trials, or, if the FDA authorizes use as outlined in agency guidance, the doses would be distributed as part of a COVID-19 vaccination campaign.
Johnson & Johnson reports that the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of HHS's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, in collaboration with the DoD, is committing more than $1 billion for the agreement. The vaccine will be "provided at a global not-for-profit basis for emergency pandemic use."
"Johnson & Johnson's global team of experts has worked tirelessly alongside BARDA and scientific partners to pursue a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine that can help to stop the spread of COVID-19. We greatly appreciate the U.S. government's confidence in, and support for, our R&D platform and efforts and the scalability of our vaccine technology. We are scaling up production in the U.S. and worldwide to deliver a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine for emergency use," said Paul Stoffels, M.D., vice chairman of the executive committee and chief scientific officer at Johnson & Johnson.
The company also reports that based on the positive preclinical data recently published in the peer reviewed journal Nature, the Phase 1/2a first-in-human clinical trial of the vaccine candidate, Ad26.COV2.S, is underway in healthy volunteers in the U.S. and Belgium.
Access the more details on the agreement via the Johnson & Johnson press release.
National Restaurant Association Offers Best Practice Tips for Restaurant Delivery Service
As diners continue to call or use their apps for take-out and delivery options from their favorite local restaurants, the National Restaurant Association has published "6 Best Practices for Restaurant Delivery," which covers various aspects of food delivery, from packaging delivery orders properly to extra safety precautions for drivers to consider during the pandemic.
The best practice tips are relevant for restaurateurs who operate their own driving fleet or those who contract with a third party. The six recommendations are a mix of "tried-and-true" approaches and those newly adopted during the pandemic.
Access the tips on the National Restaurant Association's website.
See more ANSI member efforts in the ANSI COVID-19 Resource Webpage Highlighting Standardization Community Response Efforts.