Protocols | KRG Hospitality

What the B.C. Restart Means for Operators

by David Klemt

In news that’s not exactly surprising, the British Columbia “circuit breaker” expiration didn’t lead to a full reopening.

Instead, the province is launching the B.C. Restart plan.

Obviously, not returning to restriction-free restaurant and bar service is disappointing. However, the plan does give operators dates against which they can plan for staffing, inventory, and other aspects of running their businesses.

Of course, that’s only if officials execute the plan as-is.

Not Surprising

As B.C. operators are well aware, the expiration of the province’s “circuit breaker” doesn’t mean they can return to pre-pandemic operations. Clearly, it would’ve been helpful to the province’s hospitality operators for officials like Premier John Horgan to have made that clear last week.

Resources are razor thin and have been since the start of the pandemic and pandemic-driven shutdowns and restrictions. The more lead time officials can provide hospitality operators to prepare for changes to Covid-19 operational protocols, the better.

Let me say that again for any officials who may read this: Restaurant, bar and other hospitality businesses need more than a few days’ notice to prepare for rule changes.

As long as B.C. Restart targets are hit and numbers don’t head in the wrong direction, at least the new plan is clearer than last week’s expiration announcement.

Four-step Plan

B.C. Restart targets four dates that should remain in place as long as Covid-19 case, hospitalization and death rates remain low. Conversely, the province is seeking increases in adult vaccination rates (for dose one).

Unsurprisingly, the province is now in step one of the four-step B.C. Restart plan. The goal is to achieve a 60-percent dose-one vaccination rate among the province’s adult population. A mask mandate is in place provincewide, as are safety protocols like social distancing. Indoor and outdoor dining is restricted to a maximum of six people, with safety protocols.

The earliest date for step two to begin is June 15 and targets a 65-percent adult vaccination rate. B.C.’s mask mandate remains, as do business safety protocols and physical distancing measures. Interestingly, the province’s travel restrictions are removed.

Step three starts on June 1 at the earliest, targeting a 70-percent adult inoculation rate, low Covid-19 case rate, and decline in hospitalizations. Officials will announce new PPE and social distancing guidelines, organized indoor and outdoor gathering capacity will increase, and nightclubs and casinos will reopen (with capacity limits and safety protocols).

If all goes to plan, September 7 is the earliest start to step four, which targets a dose-one adult vaccination rate of more than 70 percent. B.C. will permit a return to “normal” social contact.

For Operators

Restaurant and bar operators—at the moment—should focus on steps one and two of B.C. Restart.

The reason is simple: During steps one and two, restaurants and bars must operate under the pre-circuit-breaker health and safety protocols.

So, operators must follow these rules for step one:

Indoor and outdoor dining capacity: 6 people
Liquor service curfew: 10:00 PM

And the following for step two:

Indoor and outdoor dining capacity: 6 people
Liquor service curfew: Midnight

Should things stay on track, step three will rescind the liquor service curfew, and there will be no group limit for indoor and outdoor dining.

Obviously, B.C. Restart isn’t what operators wanted when officials announced the expiration of the circuit breaker. However, the new plan does allow operators to plan ahead and gives us a glimpse of a light at the end of a very long, very erratic, very dark tunnel.

To review the plan in more detail, click here.

Image: Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

What in the CDC Guidance…?

by David Klemt

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is once again offering Covid-19 guidance and this time it’s taking a sharp turn.

One big takeaway is that nobody was really expecting the agency’s abrupt and surprising advice.

Also, the CDC’s updates are confusing a lot of people. So much so, in fact, that the agency is “shaking up” communications personnel.

Changing Guidelines

Clearly, the CDC’s statements toward the end of last week are shocking. The agency caught states and businesses completely off guard.

Business owners, workers and the public are unsure how to interpret the CDC’s new advice. Unfortunately, that seems to indicate that perhaps the agency didn’t take the time to really dial in their message before addressing the nation.

We’ve dealt with constant shifts in guidance for more than a year now. There’s little wonder that so many Americans are experiencing Covid-19 fatigue and skepticism.

It’s fair to say that when the CDC announced updated guidelines last week, people threw their hands up in frustration.

Obviously, the messaging was haphazard since so many attempts at clarification have taken place over the course of just a few days.

So, what’s the agency saying now?

Vague at Best

Last Thursday, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the current CDC director, said this:

“Anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physical distancing. If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic.”

Which, okay—great. Seems like a simple bit of direction, right?

Obviously, no—not that simple. Yesterday, Dr. Walensky had to clarify the CDC’s newest guidance:

“This is not permission for widespread removal of masks. We were going to get to the point in the pandemic where the vaccinated could take off their masks.”

The Details, Kinda

In short, the new advice is aimed toward those who are fully vaccinated. To review, a person is considered to be fully vaccinated:

two weeks after receiving the second dose of a two-dose regimen (Pfizer, Moderna); or
two weeks after receiving a dose of a one-dose vaccine (Johnson & Johnson).

Last week, Dr. Walensky said that fully vaccinated people no longer needed to wear masks or practice social distancing outdoors or indoors. Of course, caveats followed immediately, leading many people to criticize the guidance as vague and, to put it bluntly, unhelpful.

The caveats? The fully vaccinated should still wear masks in crowded settings like airports, airplanes, buses and other public transportation, hospitals, homeless shelters. Also, they should continue following the guidance of their employers and local businesses.

Sifting Through the Confusion

In a nutshell, what the CDC is saying is that fully vaccinated people can return to a semblance of their normal pre-pandemic lives.

This is likely an attempt, however slap-dash or ham-fisted, to incentivize the unvaccinated to get their shots. It’s also probably another attempt at rebooting the economy.

One problem with this new guidance is that it’s vague. People still have questions, and the CDC appears to be fine with deferring to business owners. That means, once again, front-line workers have to police mask wearing and social distancing.

Our industry has been forced to shove staff into awkward and hostile situations and confrontations for over a year now. Shifting guidance and recommendations routinely give short shrift to this facet of working during the pandemic.

Another problem with the CDC’s latest guidance? We have no way of knowing who’s actually vaccinated. Because of this, many business owners are keeping mask and social distancing rules in place to protect their staff and guests. This is no doubt already leading to uncomfortable confrontations.

Staff who can’t get vaccinated for medical or religious reasons are also now being put at risk. Since we’re relying on the “honor system” regarding mask wearing and distancing, unvaccinated workers face greater risk of exposure from unvaccinated guests.

Lack of Industry-specific Guidance

We’re still learning about Covid-19. We’re still attempting to figure out best practices. And we’re still balancing the need to keep businesses open while protecting workers and the public.

But the CDC’s latest guidance isn’t helpful. Essentially, the agency is putting the onus of their recommendations on business owners and state and local policymakers. And, of course, the CDC hasn’t put forth specific guidance for restaurants, bars and other hospitality industry businesses.

The National Restaurant Association responded to the CDC’s update by saying that “restaurant operators have the option of determining how best to enforce the new guidance,” and that they wouldn’t be updating their own Covid-19 Operating Guidance just yet. Also, the NRA stated that operators would be wise to continue to work with state and local regulatory bodies to avoid falling afoul of any mandates.

Next Steps

Operators will now have to review their Covid-19 protocols, the guidance and rules in place in their local jurisdictions, and determine what’s required and what’s best for their staff. They should also consider doing the following:

Inform staff about mask, social distancing, and other Covid-19 protocols, whether they’re being kept in place, adjusted or rescinded.
Ask staff about their comfort levels in terms of serving guests who aren’t required to wear masks at all during their visits. It’s not just guest comfort that’s important.
Owners and managers need to let staff know they have their backs if they’ll be enforcing protocols.
Ownership and management must provethey’re backing up their teams. If operators think they’re facing labor challenges now, they’ll struggle even harder if they fail to back up workers who are tasked with informing guests that Covid protocols are in place.
Operators should make their protocols known—if they’re still in place—on social, their websites, via email, and in-person so there are no surprises when guests arrive.

Once again, business owners are left to deal with the aftermath of the CDC’s “recommendations.” Now more than ever, guest-facing staff need to be supported.

Image: Simone Secci on Unsplash