Under the new plan for Alabama, individuals are “encouraged” to minimize their travel, especially if sick, and to wear a mask or face covering when being around people who don’t live in their house. But masks aren’t required, there is no state law.
Most retail shops can reopen, but it won't be like before. The state sets capacity at half whatever it was before and offers a few guidelines. But many of the other particulars – whether to provide hand sanitizer, how to arrange the aisles, how to handle waiting in line -- falls to local businesses, to corporate executive, to individual shoppers across Alabama.
Jefferson County Health Officer Dr. Mark Wilson said the order puts more responsibility on private businesses and the public to limit the spread of the virus and prevent further outbreaks in the state.
“A really important part of [Tuesday's] new order is the emphasis on personal responsibility,” Wilson said during a town hall teleconference with U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell. “And I want everybody to pay close attention to that. We all have to continue to pay very close attention to keeping ourselves safe and keeping others safe.”
Alabama’s new “safer at home” order takes effect today at 5 p.m., allowing many businesses in the state to reopen, but with greater emphasis on social distancing and sanitation. Those changes will make visiting a record store, clothing boutique or dentist’s office feel different than it did in February.
“Reopening Alabama’s economy is certainly not as simple as flipping a switch or snapping your fingers,” Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said while announcing the order on Tuesday.
But the state did offer some new rules for the new normal:
- Weddings and funerals are capped at no more than 10 people.
- You can play some sports, or host a concert, but only if there are no more than 10 people and everyone can stay six feet apart.
- Expect to have your temperature taken before seeing the dentist.
- Many offices may not return to normal, as employers are asked to make it easier to work remotely.
- Public playgrounds are still closed, along with gyms, spas, and sports activities that require close contact, as they have been since March.
- Expect businesses to start wiping down touch pads and credit card readers a whole lot more.
- You may see police patrolling the beaches, breaking up groups of more than 10.
- No haircuts. No manicures. Not professionally. Not yet.
Masks required in some locations
Dr. Paul Erwin, dean of the UAB School of Public Health, said he would still encourage people to stay home as much as possible.
“Even though the restrictions are easing for some businesses and some activities, as much as you can, stay home,” said Erwin. “If you can, use mail order for meds. Use a grocery delivery service, if at all possible. "
“When you have to go out, use a face mask or covering," said Erwin at UAB, "and take hand sanitizer or wipes with you.”
Wearing a mask in public is required in Birmingham, where the city council passed an ordinance Tuesday, but it's only recommended statewide.
“We know that there's asymptomatic spread, in other words, people have the virus without knowing it,” Wilson said. “They don't have symptoms all the time and so they're able to spread it.
“So we all need to assume that we might have it, and assume that everybody else around us might have it.”
“The burden of safety”
Some retail stores, big and small, are doing more than is required to try to limit the spread of the virus and convince customers it’s safe to shop again.
Big-box giant Costco announced that all customers nationwide would have to wear masks to enter the store beginning May 4. Walmart has announced it will require all employees to wear masks and encourage customers to do the same.
And some businesses have said they won’t reopen yet, even if they are legally allowed to do so.
The owners of Club Duquette, a clothing store in Birmingham, sent an email message to customers Tuesday saying they would not reopen yet because they were not convinced they could keep customers and staff safe from the virus.
“By the new guidelines, retail businesses must carry the burden of safety -- safety for the customers and safety for the workers,” owners Morgan and Duquette Johnston said in the email. “This means distancing and limiting interaction with our customers, potentially taking temperatures, disinfecting anything that is touched, and more."
For example, Alabama’s order directs retail stores to “take reasonable steps to comply with guidelines on sanitation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“the CDC”) and the Alabama Department of Public Health,” which include sanitizing frequently touched surfaces and to consider putting wipeable covers on touch pads and credit card readers that can be easily and frequently disinfected.
“Because we know that COVID-19 can live on surfaces for extended periods, because we do not have the stock or access to disinfecting supplies, protective equipment and high grade thermometers, and because we place the highest priority on the health and safety of our community and our families, we will not be reopening the doors to our brick and mortar store until further proof that Alabama has indeed flattened the curve and it is safe to open again,” the Johnstons said in the email.
Medical facilities get the most guidance
A trip to the dentist might be a very different experience under these recommendations.
Medical facilities got the most direct guidance in the order, which linked to multiple sets of guidelines from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the CDC. The CDC guidelines include specific recommendations for hospitals, dental offices, nursing homes, and many other types of medical facilities, as well as general recommendations on using personal protective equipment, hand hygiene and infection control.
For dentists, the CDC still recommends postponing non-urgent dental visits and talking to patients by phone before they arrive at the facility to determine whether care is necessary. The CDC encourages dentists to screen all employees and patients for fever or other COVID symptoms as soon as they enter the clinic. Anyone with a fever or other symptoms should be sent home unless urgent care is required.
In some ways a dental visit might feel like a new normal, but in some ways, it might be a trip back to the past. The CDC suggests dentists avoid using tools like the air-water syringe and ultrasonic scalers, which might send viral droplets into the air like a cough or a sneeze would. Dentists should “prioritize minimally invasive/atraumatic restorative techniques (hand instruments only),” the agency said.
The CDC also recommends requiring cloth face coverings for all patients and employees in dentists’ offices and most medical facilities, as well as temperature checks. Previous draft documents from the agency recommended closing all waiting rooms, but those recommendations have not been formally adopted.
Beach towns to enforce distancing on the sand
At Alabama’s beaches, Ivey said local municipalities will help enforce social distancing rules, breaking up groups of more than 10 people and keeping groups at least six feet apart.
Ivey said the local law enforcement agencies would assume that responsibility in order to reopen.
“We will coordinate with Gulf Shores and Orange Beach police for a consistent unified effort,” said Baldwin County Sheriff Huey “Hoss” Mack, whose deputies patrol along Fort Morgan Road west of Gulf Shores.
“We will add beach patrols and a visible presence on the island. We essentially will be working it as we do a Spring Break detail.”