Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in through Farms and

Agritourism Facilities

Facility Personnel:

• Restrict access to a farm or agri-tourism facility to essential personnel only (veterinarians, farriers,

animal caretakers, and essential owners).
• Prohibit non-essential persons (students, friends, family members) from entering the facility.

• Stay 6 feet apart from other people and do not congregate.

• Do not allow access to the facility to anyone who has been exposed a person with

symptoms of COVID-19 (cough, shortness of breath, or fever) or if the person wanting

access is showing any symptoms of COVID-19. View the CDC’s guidance on COVID-19

symptoms here.

• Use an online sign-up form to encourage workers, owners and essential personel to commit to an

hour that they will be visiting the barn, and limit each time slot to ensure that no more than 10 people are on the grounds at a time.

Facility Environment:

• Please do not touch anything unless you need to use it.

• Avoid sharing equipment and supplies between persons.

• The virus can persist on non-porous materials (leather, gate latches, door handles, spray nozzles) longer than porous materials.

o Clean communal equipment daily with cleaner (soap and water) or disinfectant.

o Disinfect gate latches, spray nozzles, pitchforks, wheelbarrows, and other frequently used    non-porous surfaces regularly or after contact with personnel.

o Barn door handles, hose ends, light switches, and feed scoops can be handled by

many people and should also be cleaned and disinfected frequently.

o Only designated individuals are to move equipment.

Although there is no evidence that animals can contract or become ill from COVID-19, practice good hygiene by washing your hands with soap and water for a minimum of 20 seconds or using a >60% alcohol hand sanitizer after touching a animal, especially those that are friendly to people or in communal areas, or communal equipment to prevent environmental spread of the virus.

Hand sanitizer is not as effective as soap and water, so only use when there is no soap and water

available and hands are not visibly soiled.

Additional Online Resources:

https://ext.vt.edu/covid-19updates/resources.html