March 13, 2020

Dear ACAS members, service users and supporters,

Subject: COIVD 19 (Corona Virus) and ACAS operational response

I want to provide you with an update on our response to COVID 19 (Corona Virus) outbreak and our commitment to community safety. To date, we have been following updates from health authorities and WHO. We want to ensure that community members are well informed and that we are operating our programs from a place of reliable evidence and facts, not fear.

We want to do our best to minimize the service disruption. At the same time, we take precautions and follow the guidelines of The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) in Community-based Measures to Mitigate the Spread of Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19).

Starting today (March 13) till April 30, we decided to suspend the following program activities, meetings, and workshops:

  • QTAY When You’re Ready session on March 13th
  • CHAMP in Action training series on March 14th , 21st, 22nd , and 28th
  • Health Promotion workshop on March 19th
  • Acupuncture clinic on March 23rd
  • HIV Testing at ACAS on March 24th
  • Men’s Program Hump Day on March 25th
  • ACAS 25th Anniversary Banquet on March 27th
  • S.L.A.M. Sex, Love Asian Men Community Forum on April 4th and
  • Health Promotion workshop on April 10th

We will continue providing in-person services (case management, one-on-one support) for all program participants. To protect yourself and others, we ask our clients, visitors and volunteers to

  • Answer screening questions before using the service
  • Encourage people to use telephone service as alternative to in-person service when applicable
  • Use individual safety measures: wash hands regularly or use hand sanitizer, cover cough and sneeze, and stay home when sick
  • Use social distancing measure (staying at least 3 feet away from each other)

We will clean frequently touched surfaces such as doorknobs, light switches, counters, touch screen surfaces and keypads twice a day. We have added hand sanitizers in our office. We are putting employment policies so that our staff are protected and not penalized financially if they need to take sick leave or stay home.

Again, we continue to monitor this situation closely and will provide updates as needed. We also encourage you to use additional resources related to COVID-19.

Feel free to contact me or your program coordinators if you have any questions, suggestions or concerns. We are here to assist you.

Sincerely Yours,

Noulmook