Your Gated Community: Staying Safe in a Pandemic
Living in a gated community in Las Vegas offers security, comfort, and peace of mind. But when your community is threatened by a pandemic like the coronavirus, that peace can quickly disappear and a once-serene atmosphere can become an environment filled with fear and disease. Clark county property managers are taking additional steps to ensure Las Vegas gated communities are safe, serene, and free from disease.
The Challenge
With over 33,000 cases and deaths approaching 600, health officials, municipalities, and officials in Las Vegas gated communities are warning residents to take extra precautions in preventing the spread of this deadly pandemic. Studies indicate people living in cluster communities are more prone to transmit diseases like coronavirus, influenza, and pneumonia due to the nature of community housing.
While some property managers have been vigilant in screening residents that might have traveled out of state or abroad to countries like China, Italy, Japan, Iran, and South Korea, as a gated community resident, you need to know how to protect yourself and your family in a pandemic.
Preventative Measures
State mandated preventative measures include wearing masks, handwashing, social distancing, and sanitizing high-touch areas inside your home and in community areas frequented by other residents. In a gated community, the spread of coronavirus can be controlled by initiating some stringent guidelines to regulate movement in and out of the community.
Restricting Traffic: While residents cannot be restricted traveling in and out of the complex, they can be prohibited from congregating in common areas like the clubhouse, pool, and exercise facility. Management may consider limiting meetings and gatherings to no more than 10 residents at a time. Restricting visits from family and friends can also help eliminate the spread from outside sources.
Screening Visitors: Posting a guard at the gate and checking each vehicle visiting the property might be a way of preventing the spread of disease. Temperature checks for vendors and people visiting the complex on official business might seem invasive but necessary to prevent disease. The United Parcel Service, Federal Express, and other delivery agencies are prone to leave packages at the office for pickup or outside the resident’s unit.
Sanitizing Common Areas: Maintenance can be responsible for keeping frequently used common areas clean and germ free. Disinfecting elevator buttons, mopping floors, wiping down railings and entries is a good way to keep common areas germ free.
Scheduling Maintenance: During the pandemic it is wise to minimize maintenance visits to residential units. Unless it’s an emergency repair like HVAC or plumbing, maintenance workers should not be scheduled to enter resident’s apartments. If necessary, maintenance should wear masks or protective personal equipment.
Closing Community Areas:
Las Vegas gated communities may prohibit visits to common areas like your clubhouse, exercise room, and neighborhood pool. The clubhouse and pool area could be veritable hotbeds of germs and communicable disease if residents are allowed to host gatherings or meet with a large group. Viruses and bacteria love wet, damp, and humid areas where they can breed and spread sickness and disease.
Coronavirus in Las Vegas is a serious matter; and no one can afford to expose residents to a potentially fatal disease for the sake of having fun. If management opts not to close your exercise room or gym, they should require residents to wear masks and practice social distancing. It’s a good idea to set up hand sanitizer stations at entrances to community gyms and exercise rooms and ask residents to wipe down equipment before and after each use. You might also be required to social distance and avoid other being less than six feet away from other patrons.
Observing Legalities:
Due to HIPAA regulations, if a resident contracts the virus, management should not divulge their identity to protect their privacy. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) or local health authorities are responsible to conduct contact tracing and alert individuals who may have come in contact with infected residents. The CDC recommends those who have potentially been infected to get tested, and then quarantine for 14 days. Contact tracing has been proven to be effective in preventing the spread of infectious diseases like Coronavirus.
Taking Precautions Through HOA Management:
Screen who comes and goes in and out of the property. Check each vehicle entering and leaving the property, especially outside vendors. Limit visits to the community by family and friends, except for caregivers.
Sanitize: Have maintenance perform regular sanitizing of frequently used common areas like elevators, entrances, and handrails.
Safeguard: Close or limit access to common areas like clubhouses, exercise rooms, and pools.
Limit Face-to-Face Contact:Restrict maintenance workers from visits to residential units unless in emergency circumstances. Limit office visits to essential business only on an appointment basis so office staff can sanitize and prep waiting areas, lobbies, and desks. Require all office personnel and residents to wear a mask or personal protective equipment (PPE),provide hand sanitizing stations, use Plexiglass shields at office staff workstations to prevent the spread of droplets; limit visits to the office to one individual at a time.
Stay Safe and Secure:
As your HOA managers employ stringent protocols and residents consistently practice social distancing, coronavirus in Las Vegas need not invade your gated community and disrupt your serenity, security, and peace of mind. For more information about how you can prevent the spread of coronavirus, log onto cdc.gov. To find out what other gated communities are doing to make residents safe, visit gatedcommunitynews.com.
