The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Friday said that businesses and large commercial venues that attract crowds can require customers and ticketholders to wear a mask, depending on the type of activity and the risk of transmission.
When large numbers of people are at department stores, hotels, gyms, indoor playgrounds, movie theaters and other large commercial settings for extended periods, close contact would raise the risk of transmission of COVID-19 and other respiratory infections, so it recommends that appropriate protective measures be taken, the center’s new guidelines state.
Such settings should step up communication with people with chronic pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease or other such ailments; people with hemoglobinopathy or other disorders that affect their red blood cells; people with immunodeficiencies that require long-term treatment; pregnant women; and people with a weak immune system, and ask them to avoid going to crowded places during the outbreak, the guidelines state.
Photo: Tsai Shu-yuan, Taipei Times
Such places should clean and disinfect their spaces, especially surfaces that are frequently touched such as elevator buttons, escalator handrails and exercise and playground equipment, as well as bathroom surfaces such as faucets, handles and toilet seats, the guidelines state.
They should maintain good ventilation and try to keep a distance of at least 1m between facilities or seat people apart and limit the number of people who can enter to ensure that the space is not overcrowded, the guidelines state.
The guidelines also suggest posters be placed at entrances or ticket offices reminding people to wash their hands and of respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette.
Businesses and venues should arrange for employees take customer’s temperatures and assess their symptoms and persuade those with fevers or respiratory symptoms not to enter, and to refund their tickets, the guidelines state.
They should set a plan for monitoring employees’ health and prepare a supply of gloves and masks to respond to a situation where an employee or customer feels ill, including establishing spaces that could be used as quarantine or resting areas, the guidelines state.
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