The transmission of COVID-19

The CDC Guidance of transmission: 

Person to person spread of coronaviruses generally occurs between people who are close contacts with one another. A close contact is typically someone who has been face-to-face for more than 15 minutes, or been in the same closed space for at least 2 hours, with a person that was infectious.

With this definition in mind, we need to take immediate steps to ensure the best possible safety for ourselves and for our communities. We need to consider the following:

• All work that is typically conducted in a residential setting, or a commercial site where other people live or work.

Following is a list of suggested guidelines based on the current research from international medical sources. This information is for our shared benefit, so please share with staff, friends and clients for everyone's well-being. 

Personal responsibilities for Photographers and Workers:

• Do not attend a work site if you are feeling unwell or exhibiting any of the symptoms of COVID-19.
• Wash hands with soap and water for 20 seconds or use hand sanitizer at the beginning of a job, at the conclusion of a job, and more often if you meet any regular criteria for hand washing, or if you accidentally touch your face.
• Carry your own hand towel or paper towel to dry your hands. Any disposable products you bring into a property should be removed and disposed of by you. You may also wish to supply your own soap.
• Keep your personal equipment as clean as possible, and take in only what you require. For example, as photographers we need the camera, flash, and tripod, but don’t need the entire camera bag. Place lenses, spare batteries, and memory cards in your pockets. This reduces the risk of your equipment acting as a fomite which is a surface that can carry infectious micro-organisms.
• As far as practicable, do not touch items and surfaces in the property.

Personal responsibility of Agents and Property Managers:

• Advise any resident or worker who is either over 65 years of age, or who has any serious underlying medical condition or compromised immunity, that they should, ideally, leave the premises whilst workers are on site. If this is not possible, or if a homeowner is uncomfortable with leaving a property entirely, they may still improve safety for themselves and the worker/s by waiting in the yard whilst work is completed inside, set up a chair on the veranda, or wait in their car.
• If the person would normally be present to provide access, they can arrange with the worker to open up and then leave, or they may have the agent provide access, or have the worker collect a key.
• Sometimes several people wish to be around for the preparation of their homes, particularly for photography. There are still work-arounds for this – we recommend vendors who have specific ideas, to put these ideas into words and pictures – put together an email for your agent or send directly to the worker you wish to communicate with.
  
• If any person who resides in the property is unwell at the time workers are due, it is the responsibility of those people to advise the agent and/or worker. Sensibly if the nature of the illness is not transmissible it may be fine for work to proceed, but it would still be wise to let the agent and worker know, and where appropriate to have the unwell person off-site during the work.
• If any person residing at a property is in self isolation, any work inside the property should be postponed immediately. If work was completed during a time of self-isolation, but before the person knew i.e. they have been asked to self-isolate because they were recently in contact with a known case of COVID-19), the worker/s MUST be informed ASAP.

Checklist for property owners:

What YOU must do prior to commencing property marketing. 

Under normal circumstances, the photographer and/or agent will go from room to room to do the final inspection of the space. Given the current situation, it is mandatory to do these things yourself, before the worker arrives.

Whole House

• Open blinds
• Turn on lights and lamps
• Turn OFF all ceiling fans
• Remove items considered ‘clutter’ such as mail, tissue boxes, keys, remote controllers, and other loose items that you would not want people looking at on the internet
• Consider packing away personal photographs now. Some small framed prints can make a space look homey, but large photos are something we are often asked to remove.
• Declutter shelves, windowsills and benches
• Hide garbage bins inside and out

Kitchen

• Declutter and clean bench-tops
• Empty sink, remove dish racks, washing liquid, tea towels, etc.

Living spaces

• Remove any loose unnecessary items – if your children have toys in the living area you may arrange them neatly or place them out of view.

Bathrooms

• Remove day to day items such as shampoo, soap, toothbrushes, toilet brush, any cleaning products, or untidy toilet paper (a neat roll on the dispenser is fine)
• Check towels – if they look wrinkled, wet, grimy or mis-matched, it is preferable to have no towels
• Usually it is better to remove floor mats, so the flooring is clearly visible
• Any items you remove from the bathroom can be placed in the hallway just outside the door (unless you have a beautiful hallway that will also be getting photographed).

Bedrooms

• Ensure bedding is neat and tidy – really check that blankets and quilts are neat, that sheets are not hanging down at the side or base of the bed and that pillows are neat and tidy.
• Also check from the doorway (the most common place where we would set up the camera) to be sure that there are no loose items visible under the bed.
• Check bedside tables and remove from sight any tissue boxes, remote controls, phones, chargers, digital clocks or any other items that you would not like people to look at on the internet – this can include anything from your reading glasses, your gold watch or your inhaler.
• In a child’s room please ensure toys are either packed away or arranged neatly.

Outdoors

• Tidy lawns and garden beds
• Clear paths and driveways
• Hide pet bowls, toys and beds. If you have a dog and you are able to, take them away during the shoot
• Remove bikes, pool, and outdoor toys. If you have a trampoline try to move it to a corner of the yard where it will be as out of the way as possible for photos.

Please follow the government restrictions in your area regarding numbers of people at an indoor gathering. Please consider this if there is more than 1 worker attending a property, and also count people living or working on site. Most importantly use good judgment, and enter ever work site in the mindset that you may be an asymptomatic carrier of COVID-19. By protecting yourself, you're protecting your community.