As of September 15, all restaurants and bars in the City of Milwaukee were required to submit a COVID-19 safety plan in order to continue operating with any dine-in customers, indoors or on a patio. The city’s health department announced the requirement at the end of July with the goal of creating the safest environment for both customers and employees to prevent the spread of COVID while also allowing businesses to continue operating. Establishments that ultimately fail to submit a plan and get it approved may face problems licensing their business in the future.
A separate plan for each establishment is required because no two of the over 1,700 licensed restaurants and bars in the city are alike. Whereas one may have tables and chairs that may be moved around in the dining room, another may only have booths that would require a different approach to social distancing, for example. An individual safety plan ensures that a business operator is taking all variables into consideration in order to stop the spread.
Some of the elements that the safety plan needs to address include employee health screenings at the start of each shift, protocols for if an employee needs a test or tests positive, a policy to deal with non-compliance of the mask mandate since it is up to businesses to enforce on their premises, measures for ensuring physical distancing, sanitizing procedures using EPA-compliant products, and how things like condiments and menus are sanitized and handled.
Another aspect that must be addressed in the safety plan is communication with the public regarding the safety procedures and policies in place. Communication is going to be key to helping customers feel safe in restaurants and bars, even when things eventually open up fully again. Signage in the space about safety policies and social distancing, communicating the same type of information on social media or the business' website, and making procedures like sanitizing as visible to customers as possible will reassure customers that it is safe to visit.
As of late last week, about 300 safety plans had been submitted, and 140 of those had been approved. Hawthorne Coffee Roasters was the first business approved, and other approvals so far include a number of Lowlands Group restaurants, Carnevor, Camp Bar, Harbor House and Milwaukee Brat House. When approved, a business gets a sticker to display, likely near their health inspection letter grade, so you know they’re in compliance.
Businesses with approved plans will be “phase-proof,” meaning that if the pandemic gets worse and the city increases capacity restrictions again, those businesses with an approved plan will be exempt from the more stringent capacity requirements. Any businesses that did not submit a safety plan by the deadline will be contacted by the health department and given a two-week grace period.
Two New Studies
Custom safety plans are important because it’s becoming clear that eating indoors at a restaurant is riskier than other indoor activities. A CDC study released last week found that patients who were positive for COVID-19 were twice as likely to have dined at a restaurant than those who tested negative for the disease. The study tracked symptomatic outpatients from 11 U.S. healthcare facilities.
However, eating food from a restaurant is still incredibly safe, according to a study by the International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Food released earlier this month. The study concludes that COVID-19 should not be considered a food, food packaging, or food handling hazard. There have been no credible reports of virus transmission from eating restaurant-prepared food or handling food packaging, so even if you don't feel comfortable eating in a restaurant yet, you can be assured that the science indicates supporting local restaurants with takeout and delivery is safe.
To read more "New Restaurant Reality" columns by Lacey Muszynski, click here.
