Anonymous
Source: County of Santa Barbara
Including: Restaurants, Bars, Grocery Stores, Farmer’s Markets and Food Distribution Programs
This guidance is provided to assist restaurants, bars, grocery stores, farmer’s markets and other food facilities in complying with the Public Health Department’s social distancing requirements.
Social Distancing Guidance for Retail Food Facilities
Social distancing refers to efforts to keep groups of people from coming together and to allow for more physical space between people when they do congregate. Properly implemented, social distancing is an important strategy to reduce opportunities for the spread of COVID-19 in our community.
Restaurants & Bars
- Do not allow staff who have symptoms of coronavirus disease (such as a fever with cough) to come to work.
- Space tables 6 feet apart in dining areas or seat customer groups at least 6 feet apart; space patrons at bar or counter seating at least 6 feet apart.
- Postpone or cancel events / banquets with 250 or more attendees.
- Postpone or cancel events / banquets with 10 or more individuals at high risk of developing severe COVID-19.
- If events/banquets are held at the facility for smaller groups, work with event organizers to ensure that:
- Individuals who are sick with coronavirus symptoms do not attend;
- Attendees are spaced at least 6 feet apart.
- Temporarily discontinue self-service of ready-to-eat foods such as salad bars or buffets.
Stores, Including Grocery Stores & Markets
- Do not allow staff who have symptoms of coronavirus disease (such as a fever with cough) to come to work.
- Monitor numbers of customers in store and in lines. Consider limiting / spacing entrance of customers so that the store does not become crowded.
- Assist customers in keeping at least 6 feet of space between individuals or family groups while shopping or waiting in line.
- If on-site dining or eating spaces are provided, space tables or customer groups at least 6 feet apart; space patrons at bar or counter seating at least 6 feet apart.
- Minimize quantities of foods put on display where they may be exposed to coughing, sneezing, etc. Reduce, whenever possible, customer self-service of foods.
Farmer’s Markets, Swap Meets & Outdoor Markets
- Do not allow staff who have symptoms of coronavirus disease (such as a fever with cough) to come to work.
- Monitor numbers of customers at market and in each booth. If necessary, consider limiting / spacing entrance of customers to prevent crowding.
- Consider posting signage at entrance of markets and booths to help educate and encourage customers to keep 6 feet of distance between themselves and others.
- Minimize quantities of foods put on display where they may be exposed to coughing, sneezing, or handling by customers. Eliminate or reduce, whenever possible, customer self-service of foods.
Meal-sharing and Food Distribution Sites
- Do not allow staff or volunteers who have symptoms of coronavirus disease (such as a fever with cough) to come to work / distribution sites / distribution events.
- Temporarily discontinue self-service of ready-to-eat foods such as salad bars or buffets.
- Meal programs offering sit-down dining that serve individuals at high risk of developing severe COVID-19 disease should discontinue sit-down meal service and develop alternative methods of providing meals, such as:
- Drive-through meal distribution
- Takeout meal distribution
- Home delivery of meals
- If at all possible, providers should stagger when people receive services, so that a large number of people are not gathered in the same area at the same time.
- If this is not feasible, then establish methods of keeping people at least 6 feet apart while helping others, waiting in line or receiving services.
- Provide, when possible, alternative methods of providing meal services to individuals who are self-quarantining due to symptoms of coronavirus disease.
- Encourage and facilitate good hand hygiene for both meal/food servers and recipients, as follows:
- Meal servers handling open food must have access to handwashing facilities with single-use soap and paper towels
- On-site dining for meal recipients is discouraged, but if it is planned, provide handwashing facilities for meal recipients as well as servers. Handwashing facilities must provide single-use soap and single-use paper towels in dispensers
- For take-out, drive through or drop-off meal service at which there is no open food (food is prepackaged), providing alcohol-based hand sanitizers (containing at least 60% alcohol) for people to use while they wait or are receiving services is recommended.
- Encourage and facilitate good hand hygiene for both meal/food servers and recipients, as follows:
- Remind staff, volunteers & meal recipients that individuals with symptoms of coronavirus disease, such as fever and cough, should remain home.
I was at Peets this morning. They removed half the tables so that they are all 6’ apart. I needed my Major Dickason’s beans.
In the real world, it’s impossible.
That was completely unnecessary. Your coffee is not needed
https://publichealthsbc.org/new-page-examples/first-positive-case-of-covid-19-confirmed-in-santa-barbara-county/
I have every right to be freaked out. Especially with the rate it’s spreading at
At a time like this, closing coffee shops isn’t a bad idea. Movie theatres should close too.
On edhat. They just posted the first positive case in North County. We will have our wave of cases and then slowly get back to business.
Please only go out to get the essentials like food( no restaurants/ order delivery if you want ) and medication.
Also, what I meant was going to a coffee shop at a time like this is a health hazard.
https://keyt.com/health/coronavirus/2020/03/15/gov-newsom-calls-for-california-seniors-to-self-isolate-closure-of-bars/
Probably should mention it to the grocery store manager. I work for a company in Goleta with many employees. We only received detailed guidance from management last Friday on our new Coronavirus protocols. The same thing actually happened at a few other large tech companies on the same day. Despite the urgency, there will likely be a settling in period where companies and employees adapt to the new guidelines.
“[S]pace patrons at bar or counter seating at least 6 feet apart.” Guys will have to shout their pickup lines across the room.
The Costcos in Amsterdam run out of pot before 11am every day.
Santa Barbara City Council is behind the ball. We need to have delivery only. It’s the right thing to do. We also need to lockdown non essential businesses and travel and to severely curtail social interaction. This will help to prevent the worst case scenario we have now. We are going to be in for a wild ride.