‘It’s not a heavy lift’
New Haven requiring retail employers to report positive COVID-19 cases among their employees is the city’s latest effort to ratchet up coronavirus response
NEW HAVEN — One Connecticut city has been more aggressive than most in combating the spread of COVID-19, from starting its school year remote to shuttering a restaurant that held a crowded Halloween party.
New Haven, which also recently warned about 20 businesses that they were in violation of the state’s mask mandate, is ratcheting up its coronavirus response again with an executive order requiring employers to follow certain procedures when an employee may have or tests positive for COVID19.
Mayor Justin Elicker said the city had discovered several instances of employers not telling workers to quarantine after being exposed to the virus, or bringing them back from quarantine too early, leading to several coronavirus cases.
“There were a small number of issues that came to our attention but enough that it made us feel it was important to make sure all businesses were abiding by the COVID-19 guidelines,” Elicker said Friday.
“And it’s not a heavy lift,” he added. “We anticipate that most businesses already are doing something along these lines and are able to implement these requirements.”
His order, which takes effect Monday, will require employers with in-person workers to follow a “return to work” policy that includes COVID19 screening and mandatory leave for symptomatic and COVID-19 positive workers.
Employers must also notify New Haven if an employee tests positive, even if that worker lives outside of the city.
The city may shut down a business that violates the order, or revoke its license.
“The last thing we want is for anything to happen to any of our people or any of our customers.” — Brandi Hawkins, general manager of Atticus Bookstore Cafe
“Wedon’t want to create a culture where people are telling on everyone but at the same time, we want to make sure employees are safe.”
-- New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker
Brandi Hawkins, general manager of Atticus Bookstore Cafe, applauded New Haven for going beyond the protocols required by the state. That’s what Atticus, a longtime institution on the edge of Yale University, has been doing since the spring, she said.
“We’ve been following a more extreme precaution than the standard has been this whole time,” she said. “The last thing we want is for anything to happen to any of our people or any of our customers.”
Atticus briefly closed a few months ago after an employee was potentially exposed to COVID-19, she said. The cafe still does not offer any inside seating and the bookstore allows only two to four people
to browse at a time.
“We didn’t want to take any chances,” she said. “With the rise in COVID-19 cases, you have to take extreme precautions to get through this.”
Elicker said it’s not his goal to close any businesses, though the city has sent numerous warnings to Walmart and shut down Anthony’s Ocean View, a beachside catering venue, for failing to follow health and safety requirements.
Two businesses have also received $100 fines for not requiring employees and customers wear masks, and about 20 received warning letters.
That was enough for most to get on board.
On Friday, at least six fliers on mask wearing covered the windows of Aden Corner Store on Grand Avenue, one of several
businesses in the city’s Fair Haven neighborhood that previously received a warning.
Inside, a cashier wrote a plastic face shield over a medical face mask as he helped socially distanced, masked customers.
One of them, 62-year-old Alfonso Cruz, walked to the store to buy a pack of cigarettes. He said he feels safe as long as people are wearing masks, adding that he doesn’t think the city needs to take any more action against businesses.
“We’re the ones who’ve got to do something, as individuals,” Cruz said. “You make your own choices.”
John Thompson, 65, echoed that as he walked into the CTown supermarket on Ferry Street to buy bread and bologna for the weekend. However, he said the city is right to make sure employers are following health guidelines.
“If they’re not wearing a mask, they shouldn’t be allowed in the store,” Thompson said.
Elicker’s order will be enforced the same way New Haven has monitored compliance with mask-w earing, social distancing and other public health requirements: by conducting random checks and following up on complaints.
“We’re confident that because we’ve received complaints in the past that illuminated these issues to us already, that we’ll get complaints from employees or customers who are concerned about this,” Elicker said. “We don’t want to create a culture where people are telling on everyone but at the same time, we want to make sure employees are safe.”