On February 26th Guangdong released new guidelines on resuming services. It indicates that hotels, shopping malls and hair salons can reopen under guidance while cinemas and bars should continue to postpone their re-opening dates during the epidemic.

The guidelines cover a wide range of industries including commercial services, communities, industrial parks, nursing homes, factories, enterprises, public transportation and agriculture.

[PhotoNanfang Daily]

Commercial services

The guidelines stress that crowed public places including bars, clubs, cinemas, entertainment, KTVs, Internet cafés, live houses, SPAs, auction centers and large-scale exhibitions must remain closed during the epidemic. Malls must suspend baby care rooms, entertainment facilities for children and indoor entertainment services.

Commercial areas should take the following measures for epidemic control and prevention before resuming services:

1.Each commercial unit should establish a special team and formulate an emergency plan for epidemic control and prevention. The corporation’s legal expert should be responsible for this task and contact local epidemic control departments.

2.They should organize specific training for different positions, including cleaning staff and prepare protective equipment. They should also have an evaluation on protective material storage, training outcomes and related policies before resumption.

3.Employers should record the health status and travel history of their employees for the 14-day period before and after resuming work.

4.Each commercial unit should set up temporary rooms for medical observation based on the number of employees.

5.They should strengthen ventilation and disinfection in the public areas such as washrooms and elevators as well as frequently used objects such as doorknobs, rubbish bins and trolleys.

6.Shopkeepers and management teams must require temperature checks and information recording for both employees and customers.

7.Avoid crowding.

8.If there is a confirmed case, a commercial unit should take measures under the guidance of local health departments. If there are two or more cases, a commercial unit should take measures after the evaluation conducted by the epidemic control experts.

These guidelines can apply to commercial areas including shopping malls, office buildings, supermarkets, restaurants, cinemas, entertainment venues, live houses, Internet cafés, hotels, farmer’s markets, SPAs, beauty and hair salons, household maintenance, exhibitions, wholesalers, auto transaction, logistics and industrial parks.

Public transportation

The guidelines require public transportation facilities to set up quarantine zones. For example, staff can requisition the last three rows of seats on an aircraft, train or bus so that they can quarantine suspected patients.

It also suggested that drivers from high-risk areas should not yet come back to work.

Author| Jasmine, Zero

Editor| Simon