Highlights from NYC's 25% Capacity Reopening Guidance

Following Governor Cuomo’s announcement that NYC restaurants can reopen indoor dining at 25% capacity on September 30th, the city provided 16 pages of Interim Guidance for New York City Indoor Food Services During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency.

We’ve distilled this information into a few key clarifications.

Operations Restrictions

Indoor capacity is limited to no more than 25% of the maximum occupancy as set by the certificate of occupancy for a specific area. This restriction does not include staff, unless they are taking their break seated in the dining room.

Additional noteworthy limitations include:

• Seating at bars is prohibited, as well as walking up to or standing at the bar for any reason.
• If a venue’s maximum occupancy is over 50 people, events must be limited to current social gathering restriction: 50 or fewer people in Phase 4 regions, as of 9/10/20.
• There is a maximum of 10 guests allowed per table.
• Food may not be served between 12am and 5am. Customers may remain seated until 12:30am to finish their meal.

Health Screening

Businesses are required to take temperatures for vendors and guests as well as employees. Currently, it is common practice to only temperature-check staff, so this change may require further training and clear protocols for front door staff and managers.

New York has also clarified the record-keeping requirements for temperature screening – specific temperatures should not be recorded. You are permitted to maintain records that confirm individuals were screened and record only the result of the screening (e.g., pass/fail). You may need to update your process to comply with this update, and to incorporate a fourth screening question regarding travel to restricted states, listed below.

Other requirements:

• Temperatures of employees, vendors and guests must be no greater than 100.0F.
• One person from each party must provide their full name, address and phone number for contact tracing. This information may be collected digitally or on paper.
• Health screening questions must determine whether an individual has:

1. Knowingly been in close or proximate contact in the past 14 days with anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19 or who has or had symptoms of COVID-19;
2. Tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 14 days;
3. Experienced any symptoms of COVID-19 in the past 14 days; and/or
4. Traveled within a state with significant community spread of COVID-19 for longer than 24 hours within the past 14 days (list of Restricted States).

Face Coverings

Businesses that provide custom masks for their employees should note that employees must also be allowed to use their own acceptable face covering if they so choose.

Employees may not be required to supply their own face covering – businesses must provide face coverings to employees for free.

Signage

Highlights include conspicuously posting your reduced capacity, posting your COVID-19 Safety Plan on-site (the NYS DOH has provided a template for this purpose), and posting the contact information to report a violation of COVID-19 safety protocols.

Additional signage should include:

• Stay home if sick
• Cover nose and mouth with a face covering at all times for employees, and at all times except when seated for patrons
• Quarantine if you have recently been to a state falling under the DOH travel advisory
• Properly store and discard PPE
• Adhere to social distancing instructions
• How to report symptoms of, or exposure to, COVID-19
• Follow hand hygiene and cleaning and disinfection guidelines
• Visibly soiled hands should be washed with soap and water – hand sanitizer is not effective on visibly soiled hands
• Follow respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette
• Report any violations by calling 833-208-4160, or by texting 'VIOLATION' to 855-904-5036

Actions for Suspected COVID-19 Cases

In lack of clear guidance from a single source, it has been challenging to navigate suspected cases of COVID-19 in the workplace. Commonly, an employee has one or more symptoms of COVID-19, and the operator is left to determine who must quarantine and when they can return to work. Although this is subject to change based on evolving medical and governmental guidance, below is our current advice:

Any employee experiencing symptoms (or exposed to someone with a confirmed case of COVID-19) should immediately self-quarantine and get tested. If their test comes back negative, they may return to work. The period from their first date of absence to their receipt of a negative result will be covered as an FFCRA leave. If they test positive, their leave will also be covered under the FFCRA and you should follow New York’s Interim Guidance for Public and Private Employees Returning to Work Following COVID-19 Infection or Exposure.

Employees who were in close contact with the suspected individual must be notified immediately, informed where the individual has been, and notified if the individual tests positive. The identity of the individual should be kept confidential, to the extent possible. New York currently defines “close contact” as someone who was within 6 feet of an infected person for at least 10 minutes starting from 48 hours before the illness began until the time the person was isolated. Employees who meet these criteria should self-quarantine and get tested. They are also eligible for FFCRA leave as outlined above. They may return to work if the suspected individual tests negative.

If an employee feels uncomfortable returning to work but has not technically been in “close contact” with an infected individual, you may grant them an unpaid leave but they will not be eligible for FFCRA benefits. Anxiety and fear often surface during the waiting period for test results. Granting unpaid leave is a voluntary decision that must be weighed against the needs of the business, and you should consult HR or legal counsel to support your decision-making.

Some other helpful points from NY’s interim guidance:

• Individuals who are alerted via contact tracing or other mechanism that they have come into close or proximate contact with a person with COVID-19 are required to self-report to their employer immediately.
• The business must immediately notify state and local health departments of any confirmed case of COVID-19.
• To properly clean and disinfect exposed areas if an individual is confirmed to have COVID-19:

1. Wait 24 hours before cleaning/disinfecting
2. Close off areas used by person suspected or confirmed to have COVID-19
3. Clean/disinfect areas
4. Open doors/windows to increase ventilation

Air Filtration and Ventilation Systems

Our industry is awaiting further clarification on the air filtration and ventilation requirements, which we will share as soon as possible.

Need help applying these regulations to your operation?

Our team specializes in preparing hospitality businesses for the post-COVID world. Email us at [email protected].

Please note that we have highlighted primarily new guidelines or clarifications that were not included in the Phase 3 reopening guidance released in June.

This interim guidance is subject to change as public health officials assess any changes in transmission of COVID-19, and monitor compliance of owners/operators.

Cuomo has indicated that these restrictions will be reassessed by no later than November 1, 2020, to potentially increase from 25% to 50% capacity.