While most of our retail establishments have implemented essential social distancing measures to stop the spread of COVID-19, others may be neglecting their civic responsibility to keep their patrons, our citizens, safe.
In the interest of protecting all Kent County residents from the spread of COVID-19, Governor Hogan has issued an executive order giving local health departments the authority to require modification of operations or to close retail establishments that are not complying with social distancing guidelines.
If you have not yet implemented appropriate social distancing strategies, you need to develop a plan and implement it immediately. For resources and guidance, click here. Additional guidance specific to small businesses can be found here.
Some effective strategies for social distancing include, but are not limited to: marking floors to ensure adequate distance between customers, limiting the number of people at one time in the facility and establishing customer flow patterns that limit contact between your customers.
Additionally, you must regularly disinfect frequently touched surfaces like shopping carts, door handles, checkout areas and any other high-touch surfaces.
For everyone’s safety, if an employee is not feeling well, direct them to stay home.
A Poster for Visitors and a Poster for Staff are also available to help remind your teams to use best practices, and we encourage you to display these or something similar throughout your facility.
If we find establishments not complying with the governor’s order, Kent County Health Department may issue an order to require the establishment to close until an appropriate social distancing plan is developed and executed. It is up to the management of the establishment to ensure a safe environment for its patrons. Repeated social distancing violations may result in an order to close for the duration of the emergency.
We want to thank the business community for supporting our residents, and we applaud your efforts to keep all Kent County residents as safe as possible.
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