Are Businesses Really Prioritizing Customer Health?
With more than 7.5 million businesses at risk of closing due to COVID-19 lockdowns, it is no surprise that many companies are putting out ads telling customers it is still safe to visit their locations. Do protective measures like social distancing markers and employees wearing masks really work? Here are some important things to know about COVID-19 spreading at businesses.How Important Is Social Distancing?
Almost every business claiming to protect its patrons from COVID-19 transmission focuses on social distancing. This is the idea of maintaining a 6-foot barrier between individuals, which makes it harder for infected COVID-19 droplets to travel from person to person. There are a variety of ways businesses are enacting social distancing. Some have markers on the ground at checkout to keep queued customers farther away from each other. You may also notice some stores turning aisles into one-way lanes or some restaurants moving tables farther apart. Furthermore, businesses have to comply with Pennsylvania regulations about operating by appointment only or operating at reduced capacity. The primary spread of the virus is from person to person, so social distancing is very effective. Any businesses that are not following social distancing guidelines may actually be breaking local or state laws. However, social distancing is somewhat hindered by the fact that it relies so much on customers behaving properly. Businesses can provide guidelines, but they cannot guarantee that someone else will not get too close to you. All they can do is ask a customer to leave when they are not social distancing. Ultimately, a business may face consequences for encouraging customers to disregard social distancing, but it is not automatically responsible for the poor behavior of other customers.How Much Sanitization Should Businesses Do?
CDC guidance states that the virus does not spread as easily through touching contaminated surfaces, but it is still a possibility. Therefore, it is very important for businesses to regularly clean surfaces and items that others touch. First of all, they need to sanitize things like shelves, door handles, card readers, and other fixtures patrons regularly come into contact with. Many businesses also have items like pens, shopping carts, and menus that multiple people touch in a day. Since there is a possibility of the virus spreading through touch, these items should be handled with care. In many cities, business owners are being encouraged to switch to disposable options like paper menus. For items that are not single-use, basic sanitization is recommended. Unfortunately, many businesses are not bothering with these preventative measures because they are time-consuming and not legally required. To effectively sanitize something, it must be thoroughly wet down with bleach or another sanitizing solution. Therefore, just swiping the same grimy rag over a handle might not be enough to remove COVID-19 particles. Due to the lack of legal regulations for cleaning or disposing of shared items, this is one of the main ways businesses are failing to protect their customers. Companies that do not take the time to wipe down grocery cart handles with a bleach solution or separate used pens from fresh ones are putting their customers at risk. If an infected person coughs on one of these objects, someone else could get coronavirus from using them.Should Businesses Require Employees to Wear Masks?

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