Kemp Details Rules For Reopened Restaurants

From the Georgia Recorder: By Ross Williams - April 25, 2020

Gov. Brian Kemp released an executive order Thursday night outlining the 39 guidelines restaurants will need to comply with to reopen their doors.

Those include taking the temperature of employees before their shifts and requiring them to wear masks at all times.

Starting today, businesses including barbershops, massage parlors and bowling alleys can reopen in Georgia. Business owners are weighing whether to open now or wait to see what happens as others do. But for those who plan to open shop, it will be far from business as usual.

Kemp said an April 2 statewide shelter-in-place order has reduced the spread of COVID-19 and made it possible to gradually lift restrictions on some kinds of businesses.

“Now, with favorable data and approval from state health officials, we are taking another measured step forward by opening shuttered businesses for limited operations,” Kemp tweeted Thursday. “I know these hardworking Georgians will prioritize the safety of their employees and customers.”

Some businesses are allowed to reopen Friday with guidelines for sanitation and social distancing that Kemp announced at an April 20 press briefing.

These include fitness clubs, social clubs and tattoo parlors. Other businesses, including dine-in restaurants and theaters can resume operation starting Monday.

Some businesses are allowed to reopen Friday with guidelines for sanitation and social distancing that Kemp announced at an April 20 press briefing. These include fitness clubs, social clubs and tattoo parlors. Other businesses, including dine-in restaurants and theaters can resume operation starting Monday.

Restaurants

• Dining rooms can host no more than 10 patrons per 500 square feet, and tables are to be set six feet apart and limited to parties of six or fewer.
• Self-service drink, condiment and utensil stations are supposed to be closed.
• All employees must wear face coverings at all times and get their temperatures taken before their shift starts. Workers with fevers above 100.4 degrees or who have other symptoms should be sent home. Workers with known or suspected COVID-19 are to self-isolate for at least seven days and can come back in after they’ve been symptom-free for three days without medication.

In addition to restaurants, the order outlines restrictions for other types of businesses.

Grocery stores

• Must limit the number of patrons in their stores to 50% of fire department limits, or eight shoppers per 1,000 square feet.
• Guidelines suggest also sanitizing doors at least three times per day, scheduling specific hours for seniors and other people with a known vulnerability to the novel coronavirus, reducing store hours to allow extra cleaning and closing self-serve salad bars and buffets.

Gyms and fitness centers

• Are required to screen people at the entrance for a fever and other COVID-19 symptoms and bar entrance to anybody with a temperature above 100.4 degrees.
• Pools, saunas, tanning beds and group sports facilities such as basketball courts must remain closed.
• Use of Cardio machines should be limited to every other machine, and sanitation wipes should be left at every piece of equipment so people can wipe things down before and after each use.
• People should be provided with disinfectant spray to clean showers after each use.

Movie theaters

• Inside the theater, groups must be seated six feet apart, and only groups of six people or fewer can sit together. At least one usher must remain in each theater room to enforce social distancing.
• Each theater must be sanitized between each screening, including seats, armrests and doors.

Bowling alleys

• Food service areas must adhere to the same guidelines as restaurants, and no self-service bowling ball or shoe areas can open.
• Only groups of six or fewer can bowl per lane, and only every other lane can be in use at the same time.
• Bowling balls, shoes, scoring machines, ball returns and other fixtures must be thoroughly sanitized between each use.

This story was originally published by the Georgia Recorder. For more stories from the Georgia Recorder, visit GeorgiaRecorder.com.