Self-isolation
ARMA distributed to its members some helpful Covid-19 guidance during the week commencing 16 March, reinforcing government advice such as this.
ARMA’s recommendation to its members is that each block of flats has a plan of action for recording the presence of self-isolating residents. As a result, we have created a bespoke Dwellant process to use for individual blocks or larger developments. It’s available to all Dwellant users.
Our Covid-19 process is designed for use by:
- self-isolating residents to inform the managing agent of their situation (either self-isolating as a precaution due to illness/symptoms, or if they have tested positive for Covid-19).
- mproperty managers to track cases of self-isolation and positive cases of Covid-19; to take the necessary cleaning measures of the common parts in line with Public Health England (PHE) advice; to communicate latest developments with all residents.
- all residents to see what is happening in their building and to offer help to others who need it.
- on-site staff to support the residents and property manager.
This new process acts as an always-on, live source of information about self-isolating individuals. It helps property managers to communicate quickly and easily to all residents who have registered with Dwellant so they can confirm if they are in self-isolation or have contracted Covid-19.
It will also help to reassure residents that regular cleaning is taking place to limit the virus’s potential spread in the building. All residents are able to communicate with each other without revealing their personal contact details, if that is their wish. This ability to maintain live communication with all residents means a greater chance someone who needs help picking up medication, food or toiletries, can get that assistance from a neighbour.
As matters progress with testing and recovery, our Covid-19 process will remain the ideal platform to communicate to all residents.
How does our Covid-19 process work?
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We’ll post through your Dwellant portal a communication to all residents in each of your blocks about the action you are taking. This will include a clear call to action to report if they are self-isolating and why.
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Anyone self-isolating will be asked to complete a brief questionnaire. There is a tick box to select if they have tested positive for the virus. It will also ask them to enter a date when they began self-isolating and if they believe anyone else may have been infected.
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When the resident has completed and submitted their questionnaire, this generates a ‘request’ for the property manager. The request can be converted to a job order, for instance, for a cleaner to visit to carry out an appropriate clean of the common parts, or just for information.
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As the property manager, you can choose to make all cases of self-isolation and all cleaning orders visible to all residents or to distinct groups that you create (e.g. you may decide not to alert block F if there was someone self-isolating in block A).
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Property managers can decide to push out alerts via SMS if instant notifications are required.
Naturally, to gain the full benefit of this bespoke process, all residents (leaseholders and tenants) need to be registered with Dwellant. This is done easily through the Dwellant website for their building.
Please contact me if you would like this process to be set up on your buildings. We are running this process at cost for the benefit of the property management community at this difficult time.
Karl Lewis, Proptech Expert, Dwellant
