Industry Leaders Seek Coordinated, Uniform Reopening Guidelines

As states look toward restarting their economies, business owners will be looking for guidance on what they need to do in order to reopen.

With reopening efforts left to states and even local counties and cities, Politico reports industry groups are asking for widespread coordination efforts to avoid a cluster of confusing rules. 

“My suspicion is it’s going to be kind of clunky,” Jot Condie, head of the California Restaurant Association told Politico.

He said he expects a challenging “patchwork in the lifting of restrictions.”

Governors have convened task forces with various industry leaders on them to set out standards for reopening. But if measures vary from place-to-place, businesses may have difficulty navigating what rules actually apply. 

Restaurateurs want to know if servers will be required to wear masks. Shop owners want to know if they have to install sneeze guards at registers. Business owners want to know if they have to check temperatures of employees. 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom was one of the first governors to bring up restarting the economy. He provided steps the state would follow including ramped up testing and contact tracing measures. 

President of the California Retailers Association Rachel Michelin said her members are looking for more information. 

“We’re really hoping we’ll get a little more clarity from the state and from the governor on what it’s going to take to reopen because our member companies are ready to step up and we want to be part of conversations with him,” Michelin said.

She said retailers around the nation are sharing ideas such as removing the cosmetic and perfume samples from makeup counters, installing shields and creating contact-free checkout options.

Rebecca Reindel, safety and health director for the AFL-CIO told Politico the federal government should play a bigger role in protecting workers from catching the virus. 

“There’s totally inadequate worker protection on the job, and that’s happening now,” Reindel said. “The thought of bringing more people back under those conditions, we’re not there yet. Those are some things that can’t be figured out state by state because an infectious disease doesn’t have state boundaries.”

• Gov. Kemp Stands by Plan to Start Reopening Georgia
• Gov. Cuomo to Reopen New York State Region-By-Region