We love when a question stumps the experts and this one took some crowd sourcing and a meeting at the CDC to answer. And the answer was essentially no, you should not be doing coat checks now. Here is the specific reference provided: "Consider suspending concierge services that require staff to directly handle guests’ items. This includes guest services such as luggage delivery, laundry service, and valet parking..."
As some of you know, this has been the question of the week and a very challenging one. Several of you have had groups of employees stuck after exposure - either at openings or other critical business travel. Delta Airlines told a passenger to answer the questionnaire honestly and then provide documentation of two negative results on check in and they’d let her fly. We’ll let you know if they let her board!
The CDC reports that they have reviewed guidance with each of the major carriers and are closely monitoring compliance with screening recommendations and travel restrictions.
This was also one of the most frequent questions of the week. The short answer is, no. Testing is still unreliable - you could get tested too early, you could have a false negative. If you have major COVID symptoms or a combination of minor ones, you should stay out of work for 10 days. Does that mean that some people who just have a common cold will be kept out for 10 days? Yes, unfortunately. Does it mean that some people who actually have COVID will be kept out for 10 days and prevent them from creating an outbreak at your business? Yes. We think the smarter move from a public health and brand protection standpoint is to keep people with COVID symptoms out for 10 full days.
If they were not in close contact (generally defined as within 6 ft for 15 total minutes in most, but not all jurisdictions), there is no exclusion necessary. However, the bigger issue is that these managers are responsible for confidently communicating your COVID protocols and exclusions to their team. And they aren’t modeling that. We would suggest taking the time to educate them, review your protocols and the local guidance, the resources you have for clinical direction (us), and then listen to find out what their real concerns are.
Thanks to MJ Shult of Brinker for sharing this one: This is a really excellent look at COVID through really well presented data.
Well, this isn’t exactly a best laugh. It is an incredibly enjoyable few minutes of immense COVID-related talent and creativity, Thanks to Patrick Sterling of Texas Roadhouse for sharing it.
And for those of you, like us, who immediately wondered how they did this, here’s a great explanation of how they did it (in case any of you are trying to start your own Zoom choirs…).