San Bernardino Re-Opening Guidelines

San Bernardino County officials announce that some businesses can re-open on May 8 with May 12 update.

Per the County of San Bernarniso publication from SBCounty Together....The following are businesses which were permitted to open on Friday, May 8 while following the necessary health guidelines.

These include what Gov. Gavin Newsom has termed "Phase 2" businesses.

Phase 1 has involved "essential" businesses, which were never required to be closed.

Right now, the early phase of Phase 2 involves “lower risk” workplaces, including but not limited to bookstores, jewelry stores, clothing and shoe stores, home and furnishing stores, sporting goods stores, antique stores, music stores, and florists.

To start, reopening efforts should be phased in, starting first with curbside pickup until further notice, the county said. Supply chains supporting the above businesses can also open under this early stage of Phase 2, specifically in the manufacturing and logistics sectors.

All businesses will need to modify operations to reduce contact, ensure proper distancing, and ensure proper PPE (personal protective equipment) and sanitation equipment for all employees, preferably with outdoor breakrooms and physically distant seating.

When businesses eventually open their doors to patrons, a workplace should restrict entry to 25 percent capacity and slowly advance from there as health indicators are evaluated.

“This is a key step in reopening our economy responsibly and safely,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Curt Hagman. “By beginning with mostly curbside operations for early Phase 2 businesses, we are giving business owners an opportunity to begin the process of ramping up their operations and ramping up our economy while ensuring the safety of their employees and patrons.”

As the state proceeds into the second stage of Phase 2, workplaces in additional sectors will open. Timing for this will be evaluated and announced as early as next week, and could include:

• Destination retail, including shopping malls and swap meets

• Offices, with physical distancing (although telework is still being encouraged)

• Seated dining at restaurants, but with physical distancing

• Personal services (not requiring close proximity with patrons), such as car washes and pet

grooming.

• Dine-in restaurants

• Schools and childcare facilities

• Outdoor museums and open gallery spaces

THE ABILITY to continue opening workplaces in Phase 2, and eventually higher risk Phase 3 businesses, will rely on several criteria.

• First, businesses must demonstrate their adherence to safety and social distancing guidelines.

• Second, county residents should also continue to practice accepted safety guidelines, such as the

use of face coverings, six-foot distancing, and frequent hand washing.

• Third, and most importantly, is the county must continue to demonstrate a flattening curve.

Combined COVID positive and suspected cases must continue to go down (COVID positive has been relatively flat in San Bernardino County for the past month). Hospitalizations and ICU utilization have been well below projections. The use of ventilators has remained stable, and county hospitals still have significant capacity to accommodate a surge, Hagman said.

“We are confident that our residents and business owners will recognize that keeping the rate of COVID-19 cases and related deaths flat is a shared responsibility,” said Hagman. “We have it within our collective ability to act responsibility, whether you are working in a store or looking to visit one. We are asking all our residents to please respect safe distances and wear face coverings when indoors around other people. If we can support one another during this reopening, we can thrive within this new normal until a vaccine is found that will end this forever.”

High-risk individuals, and anyone who is sick, should continue to follow strict safe-at-home guidelines until further notice.

Governor Modifies Early Stage 2 Requirements to Open More Businesses

Governor Newsom today, 05/13/20 added more businesses to participate in Stage 2 including:

• car washes

• pet grooming

• landscape gardening

• office-based business (telework remains strongly encouraged)

• childcare for those outside of the essential workforce

• outdoor museums, and open gallery spaces and other public spaces with modifications

Last Friday, the governor had allowed curbside retail, and the manufacturing and logistics sectors to open throughout the state.

How County Businesses Can Ensure a Safe and Sustainable Reopening

With the limited re-opening of some Phase 2 businesses beginning last Friday, the County is looking to owners and managers of our businesses and facilities to establish safe reopening guidelines.

“All of our residents and business owners need to know that a successful reopening of our economy takes personal responsibility,” said Curt Hagman, chairman of the County of San Bernardino Board of Supervisors. “We must all act responsibly, whether we work in a store or look to visit one. We are asking all our residents to please respect safe distances and absolutely wear a face cover when indoors around other people. If we can support one another during this reopening, we can get through this that much sooner, and most importantly, safely.”

The County will greatly assist local businesses in achieving a safe and sustainable reopening on Thursday when we launch the COVID-Compliant Business Partnership Program. The program will help all businesses establish and promote a safe and prosperous environment for owners, employees, and customers, and provide cash incentives to small businesses that pledge to require physical distancing, face coverings, and rigorous hygiene. A website with details on the program and information on how to participate will be launched Thursday.

The San Bernardino County COVID Recovery Coalition, made up of various government, business, and organizational leaders from throughout the county, wants all workforces, starting with those in early Stage 2 businesses, to address the following areas of concern.

1. Perform a detailed risk assessment and implement a site-specific protection plan. Every workforce is different, with unique characteristics and challenges. No one is in a better place to know how to conduct operations safely than the owner, managers and employees of an individual facility. Start by reviewing this linked guidance, https://covid19.ca.gov/industry-guidance/ for each early Stage 2 business, specific to California’s roadmap to reopening.

2. Protect and support worker health and safety. Limit workforces to essential personnel and, whenever possible, ensure that vulnerable workers have alternative assignments. Supply and require use of face coverings and personal protective equipment. Develop policies that ensure employees stay at home when they are sick. Relocate break areas outdoors with physically distant seating.

3. Ensure appropriate physical distancing. Ease into opening by limiting occupancy initially by 25% capacity in order to evaluate operational protocols. Use floor markings and manage traffic flow to ensure 6-foot distancing between individuals as much as possible. Request all patrons wear face covers at entrances and while indoors. Avoid congregating.

4. Ensure proper infection control. Follow strict cleaning and sanitation standards, appropriate for your place of work or business. Establish operational procedures to frequently clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces.

5. Train all employees on new procedures. All workers need to understand your site-specific protection plan. Consider use of temperature checking apparatus, but at the least, ensure employees know how to screen themselves for symptoms and stay home if they have them.

6. Communicate with the public. Post clear signage to communicate your new safety protocols to visitors, including the requirement to wear a face covering when indoors and interacting with workers or strangers. Participants in the COVID-Compliant Business Partnership Program will receive signage from the County.

7. Offer transactions and services online and at curbside whenever feasible. Accommodate curbside pick-up to keep vulnerable populations safe. Continue to encourage takeout and delivery service.

We can all look to the model set by our grocery stores and other Phase 1 essential businesses that have shown how to offer a safe retail environment. The bottom line is that if we want to keep our economy open, we all have to take responsibility in keeping one another safe.

Let’s do the right thing and keep the curve flat. We are confident our businesses, employees and patrons can do what it takes to get through this together.

Face Coverings Are Now Optional, But Still Strongly Encouraged

Wearing a face covering may not be required per a public health order, but County leaders are still strongly recommending wearing face coverings and practicing social distancing to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The example set by grocery stores and other Phase 1 essential businesses these past several weeks provide the model for other businesses to emulate moving forward. Specifically, that means requiring face covers when indoors or interacting with workers or strangers, keeping safe distances, and frequent hand washing or sanitizing.

If you need any additional information or just have questions, feel free to contact us at 909-481-7222 or email to Glenn@ComplianceandSafetyFirst.com