5 coronavirus things: Survey suggests COVID made many embrace work-from-home

In this special edition of 5 Things, Food Management highlights five things you may have missed recently about developments regarding coronavirus and its impact on onsite dining.

Here’s your list for today:

The coronavirus pandemic has prompted a sizeable portion of the American workforce to “love” working from home, claims this USA Today report. It cites a recent survey of over 17,000 workers that showed only 23.9% said they would “Rarely” or “Never” would want to work from home post-COVID while while 27.3% said they would prefer to work from home five days a week, with the rest saying they’d like to work from home one to four days a week.

Read more: COVID surprise: Many people love working from home. Can employers live with that?

In a sure sign that things may be starting to return to “normal,” the University of Alabama has announced that its reigning national champion football team is planning on playing its 2021 season with a full 100,000-capacity stadium. The announcement by the school’s Athletic Director Greg Byrne came a few hours after the university announced it would return to “traditional in-person instruction” for the fall semester.

Related:5 coronavirus things: Vaccine distribution plan puts LAUSD’s April reopening in doubt

Read more: Alabama Football to Host Full Capacity Games in Fall

Members of the Michigan National Guard protecting the Capitol in Washington, DC have reported finding metal shavings, feathers and undercooked meat in the meals they received. According to a closed-door National Guard update given to members of Congress, 59 people had wide-ranging gastrointestinal issues because of food consumed at the Capitol.

Read more: National Guard at Capitol hospitalized after eating substandard food. Metal shavings, feathers found in meals

Tallahassee Memorial Hospital and dining services provider Sodexo have launched a program to address food security concerns amid the COVID-19 pandemic that allows predetermined patients access to dietitians while in the hospital, then provides emergency food kits, resources and assistance once they are discharged. The food kit includes local and federal food assistance resources and a recipe book to help patients use food provided once discharged to help maintain a balanced diet.

Read more: TMH, Sodexo launch program to address food insecure patients

Related:Innovator of the Month: B&I café at Wantable headquarters serves a critical socialization function for its client’s employees

Remote learning students enrolled in the Stanley Elementary School in North Dakota are getting their fix of lunchtime socializing through an online program called Lunch Bunch that lets them connect with their friends at home through the internet. “We just wanted to give them an option to hang out with their in-school classmates just because to keep those friendships going and to help them feel included,” said Stanley Elementary School Counselor Eden Cuypers, who created of Lunch Bunch.

Read more: ‘Lunch Bunch’ lets in-person, distance learners eat together in Stanley

Bonus: District buys dedicated school meal delivery van

Contact Mike Buzalka at [email protected]