Living in a condo or apartment building with shared facilities and tight spaces amid the COVID-19 pandemic presents its own set of challenges.
While health officials are telling the public to stay two metres away from each other to curb the spread of the virus, how does one successfully do that in a 25-storey condo building with hundreds of residents using the same elevators and shared spaces?
Guest Blogger, Karen King of King Condo Management, a condo management firm shares steps they are taking to keep residents informed and safe to play their part in slowing the spread.
Condominium management has been deemed an essential service because people rely on us to continue to assist them through this difficult time, and King Condo Management Inc. is honoured and proud to do so. More now than ever, people are also struggling financially and mentally, so we are evolving our services to resolve those issues too.
We are distributing masks, gloves, and sanitizer at our front desks, and we have enhanced decontamination checklists for our cleaning staff that include more frequent and intense cleaning of elevator buttons and high-usage doors. We have tested that the virus-killing UV lights installed in some of our buildings are in working order. As there is extra pressure on all aspects of the service industry, we have sent virtual Thank You gift cards to those contractors who have increased their workload to let them know they are appreciated!
We remotely post health tips, news, reminders, and videos to TV monitors installed in our buildings using a cloud service called Fastbulletin. In buildings without this technology, we frequently post updates to their bulletin boards and in other high-visibility locations. We also email newsletters that include free home health videos (such as yoga, exercise, and video conferencing how-tos to support social connections and mental health).
Many people are struggling to pay their condominium fees, or foresee such difficulty in the future, for various understandable reasons. The condominium corporation still has to pay for services, which (like intensified cleaning) are more important than ever. These fees and schedules cannot be changed. Our staff are up to date with the government and banking assistance options available, and we ask our clients to contact us so we can walk them through these helpful, stress-reducing options.
Additional costs combined with the possibility of reduced income can pose a threat to a condo’s financial health. We offer a free financial analysis for condominium corporations looking to save money during this time, and going forward, by applying a portion of our proprietary 107-step Optimization Program that we use during the onboarding of all our new condominiums.
Many people are in a vulnerable or isolated position, and even basic errands have become overwhelming or impossibly. Our staff have stepped up to help with deliveries of groceries and prescriptions to clients, as well as organizing committees of outstanding volunteers in our buildings who want to help out their neighbours.
We have posted signs asking that not more than 3 people be in the elevator at one time. On each floor/entry point a sign politely asks that if there are three people in the elevator, that they wait for the next one. For high traffic doors, the cleaners have severely increased the cleaning of the handles and glass areas that may be touched, as well as the handicap buttons, elevator and exit buttons.
King Condo Management Inc. is humbled and inspired at how our amazing residents and staff have worked together to look after one another. Ironically, this time of self-isolation is resulting in a strengthening of our condominium communities and professional relationships.
