Massachusetts restaurants hungry to reopen amid coronavirus pandemic: ‘We can do this’
Massachusetts restaurants and retailers are itching to open their doors again after the coronavirus shutdown has crippled eateries and shops across the state — with one business leader vowing “we can do this.”
How they can pull it off is now being ironed out by the Baker administration’s re-opening committee.
“Safety and sanitation are two things that go hand-in-hand with a restaurant,” Bob Luz of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association said on Thursday. “We’re going to elevate that even more with safety, sanitation and disinfection. We’re ready for this.”
He stressed the key is assuring “our guests that it’s safe,” adding the business community is “ready to get back open and start employing staff again and serving patrons again. We can do this.”
States that are already reopening have significantly limited the occupancy inside restaurants. Georgia’s restaurants can have 10 customers per 500 square feet.
Instead of an occupancy limit, Luz said they’d prefer that tables are separated by 6 feet, to align with social distancing guidelines.
“Restaurants lose money at 50% occupancy. They lose a lot of money at 25% occupancy,” he said. “A number of restaurants would not open until a later phase if that was the case because it wouldn’t be financially viable. They would have to wait, and we don’t want to see that happen.”
Takeout and delivery has been allowed during the coronavirus shutdown, but many restaurants have had to close and furlough staff.
Restaurants are expecting social distancing guidelines from the state, and they’re prepared to work collaboratively with state health officials, Luz said. Restaurants anticipate that face coverings will be part of the guidelines.
As Massachusetts grocery stores limit the number of shoppers inside to prevent crowding, Bay State retailers are expecting similar safety measures.
“We need to take those precautions to protect both customers and employees,” said Jon Hurst of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts. “We need to take a close look at what has worked with essential businesses, and adopt social distancing, hand sanitizer and face coverings for stores, office settings, warehouses and manufacturing facilities.”
Hurst said he expects a slow, step-by-step return to a “new normalcy.” Many smaller retail businesses might move online, he said.
Office buildings will be “as touchless as possible” moving forward, said C.A. Webb of the Kendall Square Association.
An initial safety plan for a Cambridge building discusses limiting people in common areas and in elevators, she said. Consistently cleaning tables and chairs will be paramount, Webb said.
“A key part of a successful reopening is receiving as much clarity as possible from the state government — clear guidelines that can be easily understood and readily applied,” Webb said.
Staffing up public health workers across the country to conduct contract tracing and eventually connect infected patients with proper treatment is key to reopening states, according to Dr. Crystal Watson of the Center for Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.
Watson said the U.S. needs 100,000 contact tracers to move toward relaxed social distancing measures, but estimates show the country only has about 30,000.
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2KKN3YG
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