Tips for Reopening- Individuals

Businesses and communities are starting to re-open, but how do you navigate this world while keeping yourself and your family safe? If you think through the known risks, you can make good choices to reduce the risk of spread of the disease while getting back to a more “new normal” way of life.

1. Wear a mask in public. The New England Journal of Medicine has written about the problem of asymptotic spread of COVID 19 throughout communities. As a result, no one is sure who is infected and who is not- and you could have the virus and not necessarily know. As a result, wearing a mask is the best and easiest way to protect yourself and others in public.
2. Be cautious about high touch surfaces. Use hand sanitizers. There are just times you have to touch surfaces while in public- often at the check out. Or people may sit and share a bench in the park- and there’s no staff to go by and sanitize those surfaces, so there’s a greater chance of transmission from those shared, high touch surfaces. Hand rails, door knobs, counters- Please consider using hand sanitizers after encountering and touching any of these sort of common touch surfaces.
3. Consider carrying very little with you if possible. We got a call recently from a hair salon that was opening in Delaware. They were scheduling appointments, but new rules were in place, including that we should plan on bringing just our keys, phone, and method of payment with us- no purses- and to wear something we are ok if it get’s damaged- the typical smocks and capes may not be used as before. And everyone was to wear their own mask. What does this mean? If you don’t already own one, this is a good time to consider a cell phone case with a wallet built in, to minimize the items you bring with you into any place of business.
4. Public restrooms- Avoid if possible. Information on the possible spread of virus through high touch surfaces and “plumes” in bathrooms suggests that if you can avoid using a public restroom, you may want to do so. If you do use a public restroom, please wash your hands thoroughly and consider using hand sanitizer after leaving (and touching) doors leaving the restroom- and of course- wear a mask.
5. Time inside- Minimize if possible. Current information seems to suggest that risks are increased if you are exposed to the virus over a period of time. That means being in a shared room or indoor space with others for an extended period of time increases your risk of exposure. That means sitting in a movie theatre or restaurant insider for two hours or more with confined shared air is riskier than moving through a store, shopping purposefully and leaving. So what does this mean? Plan your shopping trips and the like, and make them purposeful- don’t hang out and browse. Move group meetings outside if possible. Choose to go to outdoor dining or takeout if possible. At least while the weather is nice, consider opening windows and take steps in general to improve indoor air quality.

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Tips for Businesses

If you have a business where people come in and spend a considerable period of time, you are going to have to figure out how to make adjustments to keep visitors and your staff safe.

The tips below are thoughts and ideas to help businesses think through the challenges ahead and make decisions that help customers feel safe.

1. Require masks for staff and visitors. If everyone is wearing a mask, transmission may drop by as much as 80%. Read more about asymptomatic spread here in the New England Journal of Medicine. People may forget masks, so you may want to have some on hand for them to borrow, use, or even purchase- sort of like a reusable grocery bag in the “before” times. Homemade cloth masks are pretty easy to make, and having extras around may be worthwhile. (Heck, I’ve made over 1,000 so far- if I can do it, almost anyone can.)
2. Recirculating air indoors- what to know. I’ve added a list of articles below, which go into detail about the spread of COVID 19 and how the increased risk of exposure depends on whether people remain in a common space for a long period of time and on air flow. If you run an office, restaurant or retail business, you need to think about air circulation, fresh air and length of time people are confined in a space. Not every office has windows that open, or have UV-C air purifiers that could also kill the virus. Long term, you will have to determine whether looking into air purification systems and increasing the indoor air quality in your building is worth the investment. In the alternative, you may want to consider short shifts, people working from home, maintaining social distancing in the office, and the like to help reduce the spread.

Restaurants & Coffee shops may want to encourage people to have a more “grab and go” approach for a while longer, since going to spread out tables in a dining room still doesn’t address the difficulties of eating and drinking with a mask, or spending a long time in an enclosed space.

If you decide it’s worth the investment, local HVAC contractors can install UV-C systems like the ones from Aprilaire or other filtration systems to try to keep your indoor air quality as high as possible.

3. Barriers. Can you effectively create a barrier between employees and the public in a meaningful way that still lets you transact business? I have seen local businesses erect barriers between the public and themselves with everything from saran wrap to clear vinyl to sheets of glass or plexiglass. By the end of the day, they notice these barriers catch a surprising amount of “stuff”, so this is probably a good idea at places like checkout registers. Likewise, many places are placing saran wrap and other removable plastic barriers around keypads and the like.

4. Cash v. Contactless payment. If you haven’t adopted a contactless payment system like Square, Apple Pay or other system, contact your bank and see what it will take to do so- it could help save the spread for both you and your customers. I have seen even local farmer’s markets adopt systems like a “box” where people can place cash so no one is touching it. (I’m also running my money & credit cards as well as my phone through the UV-C “phonesoap” sterilizer I have- maybe this is something to consider for your business as well.)

These are just some ideas and things to begin thinking through as we all start to get back to what is a new normal. With Chester County looking to potentially “re-open” around June 4th, i think we all have to think through what seems safe, what seems risky, and what will keep infections down as we continue to discover more about the virus.

CDC article on infections at a restaurant

Article on the use of UVC Light to help kill the virus from Columbia University

Environmental considerations to prevent the spread from Applied and Environmental Science

Vox article about Infection dose

Business Insider article on spread indoors with links to other articles & research

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