We have thanked a lot of heroes who have gone above and beyond their normal duties in responding to the coronavirus pandemic: doctors, nurses and first responders, to name a few. Now we have a new category: the re-openers.
We think we’ve got it tough, having to don masks and keep our distance, but business owners have it even tougher. When it comes to reopening following coronavirus shutdowns, nothing is simple. Gov. Charlie Baker’s guidelines are voluminous and sector-specific, with separate checklists for everything from car washes, pet grooming, hair salons, offices, construction, manufacturing and laboratories to houses of worship.
Some requirements apply to all venues — for example, all venues have to ensure at least six feet of separation between individuals; install visual markers and signage; improve ventilation; require use of face coverings; install physical partitions; provide training to workers; maintain logs of workers and customers to support contact tracing (name, date, time, contact information); ensure access to handwashing facilities; conduct frequent cleaning and disinfection at least daily (the adjective “robust” comes up frequently in reference to cleaning) and keep logs of same.
Some rules are specific to the site, like car washes must limit washing services to external surfaces of the vehicle and request customers to line up in their cars at facilities with automated car washing, and stay in their cars throughout the car wash process. Pet groomers must supply leashes to guide pets so there is no hand-off of an owner’s leash at time of service. Hair cutters must change into a clean smock or gown between each client and consider using disposable capes and smocks; salon customers must wait outside or in their cars until it is time for their appointment. Places of worship must block off fixed seating to allow for sufficient distancing between pews, encourage online signup for services in order to limit occupancy to 40 percent, monitor orderly entering and exiting of services in a manner that encourages social distancing, and clean and disinfect the premises between each service.
A lot of these guidelines cost their owners or operators extra money for employee training, enhanced cleaning supplies and services, protective garments, reconfiguring the workplace, and operating at a reduced capacity. Other guidelines require extensive supervision, like the extra personnel required to hold a worship service. And then there’s the paperwork that proves compliance with these regulations.
Finally, in the event that any facility learns it has been visited or staffed by a positive COVID-19 case, the facility shall shut down for a deep cleaning and disinfecting in accordance with CDC guidance.
The guidelines cover not just what the owners and operators have to do, but how customers and patrons behave — for example, wearing masks and observing social distancing. That puts owners and operators in the delicate position of having to “educate” the customers whose patronage is vital to their survival. Owners don’t want to be the de facto pandemic police but, in effect, that’s what they are.
So can we have a drive-by parade for the re-openers? What with behind-the-scenes chores and hidden costs, they are our latest category of heroes.