AN UPDATED MESSAGE ON COVID-19

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The COVID-19 pandemic has presented many challenges for all of us over the last year.  We had to be flexible as we learned to adapt to the everchanging landscape created by this virus.  Protocol changed almost daily, but that did not stop us.  We partnered with our clients, vendors, and local health departments to find new and creative ways to ensure the children received the nourishing meals they needed.

 

While we do not always have the pleasure of serving students face-to-face in school cafeterias, our kitchens remain open and ready to serve.  We’re here to ease your mind with a variety of meal options (our menus are available on the Nutrislice App) that keep your health and well-being — as well as the health and well-being of our Team Members — as our priority.

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Please feel safe in knowing that we are continuing to take the necessary steps to stay informed and engaged with the Centers for Disease Control, World Health Organization, USDA, and each state agency’s guidance for preventing and reducing the spread of COVID-19.

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As we navigate the many changes that occur daily, we want to inform you of the continuous plans and preparations we are taking to ensure workplace safety and maintain a safe environment to serve our clients.  Specifically, we are doing the following:

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• Our Opaa! Team have developed and implemented a written safety plan that meets the guidelines set forth by the State Agency and local health authorities. This plan encompasses the processes and procedures for our non-congregate feeding program, from start to finish.

• Food Safety and Sanitation procedures are provided to all staff, giving them step by step instruction for the following:

  •  Packaging and Assembly of Meals

  • Transportation and Distribution of Meals, including:

    • In District Pick Up

    • Curb Side Pick Up

    •  Bus/Vehicle Delivery

• Meal service contingency plans are being coordinated with the districts, in order to minimize any sudden suspension of daily feeding of our students. It provides alternative solutions for staffing and facilities, as well as providing communication with our customers & local health authorities. Continuity of meal service is in everyone’s best interest.

• Best practices and training are being provided to all Opaa! team members & clients that showcase food and worker safety, meal production and assembly, and community support. Our feeding programs may be required to evolve as circumstances dictate, and Opaa! is ready to meet the challenge!

• Partnering with our clients with multi-day meal service requests, in order to maximize our team’s productivity, practice social distancing, and minimize group congregation as much as possible.

• Partnering with many local vendors to ensure that we have a constant supply of packaging for the distribution of tremendous quantities of meals within your community.

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Thank you and your community for your continued support in our efforts to provide safe, nourishing meals to the children.  We also thank our Opaa! Team and families for their dedication and commitment to keep themselves and those we serve safe.

 

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MESSAGE FROM OUR CEO

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For over 40 years, Opaa! has lived by a core value established by our founder, Kenneth Short, to “do what is in the best interests of our clients and staff.”  This enduring value guides us as we face the difficult challenge of responding to the coronavirus (COVID-19), which the World Health Organization declared a pandemic on Wednesday.

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Our hearts and prayers go out to the people who have been affected by this unprecedented event and we appreciate the healthcare workers, local communities, and governments around the world who are on the front line working to contain the coronavirus.  Please know that we are taking the necessary steps to stay informed and engaged with the Centers for Disease Control, World Health Organization, USDA, and each state agency’s guidance for preventing and reducing the spread of COVID-19.

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Our number one priority is safety.  To that end we have taken special care in our planning and preparations to ensure an environment that is safe for our employees and our clients alike.  Specifically, we are doing the following:

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• In addition to adhering to our daily deep-cleaning and personal hygiene procedures in every kitchen, we have implemented enhanced food safety sanitation and personal hygiene practices outlined in our COVID-19 policy and procedure.  This includes requiring team members who are sick to stay home and seek medical care.

• Modifying self-service food stations.

  • Offer freshly prepared entrée salads in place of the salad bar

  •  Serve fruits and vegetables from behind the serving line

  •  Offer pre-packaged condiments

  •  Provide bottled water and juice in place of the drink station

• Closely monitoring all food temperatures to ensure that all menu components are cooked and held in accordance with local health department regulations. 

• Continuous monitoring of this fluid situation through our coronavirus response team and keeping our partner schools and local teams up to date on required actions.

• Providing continued access to meals and snacks to students and staff, including in the case of school closures.  Menu updates are available on the Nutrislice app.

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We recognize these are unsettling times and the hardship it creates for everyone.  We thank our team members for their dedication and commitment to keep themselves and those we serve safe.

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Kevin Short, CEO

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OUR POSITION ON COVID-19

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We continue to monitor the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, and as such, feel it is important to issue our policy regarding our response to this constantly evolving situation. First and foremost, the safety and health of team members and guests is our highest priority. 

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO)are consistent in their messaging regarding the transmission of the virus. The COVID-19 virus, like the flu, is transmitted via small droplets of fluid from the nose and mouth of   someone who is sick.    

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Opaa! Food Management, Inc. has an established policy regarding the handling of infectious diseases and have put protocols in place to address the concerns regarding the COVID-19 Virus.

Specifically:

• All non-essential visitors shall not be allowed entry to our kitchens.  Communication should be conducted through phone, email, or text messages until further notice.

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• Employees who reside with or have had close contact with someone they believe is exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 will not be allowed entry to our kitchens or offices until they can produce medical documentation stating they have been tested and cleared.

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• STAY HOME IF YOU ARE SICK!  

During an infectious disease outbreak, it is critical employees DO NOT report to work while they are ill and/or experiencing symptoms of an infectious   disease.  Examples include, but are not limited to, fever, cough, difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, congestion or runny nose, body aches, headache, and chills.

 

• Opaa! adheres to CDC guidelines pertaining to the quarantine of individuals who are either sick or who have been exposed to the COVID-19 virus.  

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Employees are expected to abide by the following preventative measures:

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• Frequent hand washing with warm, soapy water for at least 20 seconds (Check out one of our instructional videos) ​

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• Avoid touching the faucet to turn off the water and avoid touching door handles with your clean hands.  Use paper towel or gloves to protect them from germs on these surfaces.

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• If you cannot wash your hands use a hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol content.

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• Wear a face mask while at work, covering your nose and mouth.  (Masks are provided by Opaa!)

 

• Cover your mouth whenever you sneeze or cough.

 

• Avoid close contact with people who have tested positive.  Close contact has been defined by the CDC as:

  • Being within 6-feet for 15 minutes or more

  • Caring for an individual who is sick with COVID-19

  • Direct physical contact with a person who is positive (hugged or kissed them)

  • Shared eating or drinking utensils

  • They sneezed, coughed or somehow got respiratory droplets on you

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• Avoid touching your face, nose, eyes and mouth with your hands.

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• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue or cough and sneeze into your sleeve

 

• Discard used tissues in wastebaskets and then wash your hands

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• Clean and disinfect all food contact surfaces, as well as, all frequently touched and shared surfaces

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• Avoid the handshake greeting.  Greet others in a manner that is respectful but avoids contact (wave, fist bump).

 

• Sit at separate tables when enjoying a meal.

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• Always wear single-use serving gloves when preparing ready to eat foods, as well as during meal service. All staff will change gloves between tasks, and/or when gloves are dirty or torn.

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• All food contact surfaces/equipment will continue to be cleaned and disinfected according to Opaa!’s standard operating procedures, in conjunction with local health authority guidelines.

  • Replace sanitizer on an hourly basis, or more frequent, particularly if food debris is present in the sanitizer bucket.

  • Wipe down food contact surfaces as well as equipment and door handles, on an hourly schedule. 

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Our position follows the guidance provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, and local and state health department authorities.