Shops rush to implement new health regulations
Among the changes: limiting customers inside and no reusable bags
Essential businesses throughout the Bay Area scrambled Wednesday to implement new social distancing protocols required under the region's expanded shelter in place orders, with bike shops, grocery stores, car repair shops and others working to make sure they had guidelines posted by Friday morning.
Some small business owners said that while they hadn't reviewed all the details of the new requirements for businesses yet, they have already taken many of the required steps, like limiting customers and disinfecting payment areas after each use.
Akin Atak, who owns Akin's Auto Repair near downtown San Jose, said he has already put up signs with the guidance that's become a Bay Area mantra — stay six feet apart, wash your hands regularly, and don't touch your face. He's stepped up cleaning to “maybe five to six times a day.” And if employees get in a customer's car, they wipe it down before they leave.
He's also limited capacity at his waiting room, which normally sits eight people, to three customers at a time. Not that that's been an issue.
“Because of the pandemic, we have no customers anyway,” he said, adding that instead of 40 to 45 cars a day the business is now getting about five.
The new regulations, issued Tuesday, require companies to shut down any non-essential part of their business, limit the number of customers inside a store at any one time, put tape down in areas where customers line up to make sure they stay 6 feet apart from each other, and disinfect any high-contact areas regularly, among other changes. Businesses have until 11:59 p.m. on Thursday to put up signs at all entrances explaining their social distancing protocols.
Atak said he hasn't read the new regulations too closely yet, but he thinks what he's already done covers it.
Other Bay Area businesses said they have already gone beyond the new recommendations to protect employees and customers and help stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
Matt Laureano, acting manager at the familyowned Orinda True Value Hardware in Contra Costa County, said he also hadn't reviewed the new rules in detail but the business already has signs up telling customers to keep their distance, including limits of one person per aisle, and advising them to restrict their shopping to essential needs. Employees have also been cleaning as often as possible, including wiping down the cash register between transactions, he said.
“The exchange of money could actually transfer the coronavirus as well, so we're asking customers to pay with credit or debit cards,”
Laureano said.
Crowds have never been a big issue at the store, which Laureano estimates gets 200 to 300 customers a day. But he expects the owner to put up any additional signage that’s needed. And yes, they have hand sanitizer available — but no N95 masks or toilet paper.
Many of the new rules are aimed at grocery stores, which have become a hotspot for potential infection as one of the few places people can go. Employees at two San Jose grocery stores have already tested positive for coronavirus. The new rules ban reusable bags, prohibit selfservice checkout and bulk foods, and require that hand sanitizer be stocked
at checkouts and other key points.
Big chain grocery stores, like Safeway, Trader Joe’s and Save Mart, have already begun installing see-through plastic barriers at checkout stands to help prevent transmission of coronavirus between shoppers and cashier and in some cases, limiting the number of people inside.
At Mi Tierra Foods, an independent grocery store in Berkeley that specializes in Mexican and South American products, employees have been cleaning baskets after each customer and have set up stations where shoppers can clean them again if they want to, according to owner Jesus Mendez del Rio. Employees are wearing gloves and are trying to make any extras available to shoppers. They’ve also been giving away shopping
bags so people don’t bring their own.
“Normally we’re keeping a flow of about 15 people to keep appropriate distance,” Mendez del Rio said. “So far we haven’t had issues with crowds, but we’re very attentive.”
Mendez del Rio said he had only recently learned of the new regulations and was going to keep following any rules set by the city — Berkeley has its own public health department and joined those of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties in the new, expanded shelter in place orders that will remain in effect until May 3.
“We’ve adapted,” he said. “This is a problem bigger than any I’ve seen in my life and I’m almost 60.”
For most businesses, crowded shops are not an issue now. Fred Cheng, owner of The Bicycle Garage
in Fremont, said no one came in during the first hour he was open Wednesday. He’s allowing about 10 customers at a time inside the 6,500 square foot shop.
“We’re not one of those little bike shops that have really congested walkways,” Cheng said. “Our store is very, very open.”
As he talked, he measured out the space between counters — about 10.5 feet, well beyond the 6-foot standard. The store also has tape to space out shoppers at the register and is busy printing up signs with social distancing information that they plan to put up tomorrow in Fremont and at a second location in San Francisco.
“We never wanted a crowded space, even before this all happened, so we’re not as concerned,” he said. “You could almost say we’re perfect for this.”