Businesses take necessary precautions

MOSSEL BAY NEWS AND VIDEO - Local businesses are certainly taking sanitation and good hygiene practices seriously in terms of Covid-19.

The Mossel Bay Advertiser spoke to Craig Viljoen of Incidents Working Group Africa, who is experienced in health and safety and is providing voluntary consultations to local businesses seeking advice on how to improve their hygiene practices to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

The Advertiser also saw the measures put in place by some of them. Although there are no confirmed infections on the Garden Route, it is still comforting to see the precautions being taken by businesses such as restaurants in the area. The businesses the Advertiser visited implemented hygiene control points at their entrances where customers were required to sanitise their hands before entering the premises. Depending on the business, some staff did wear masks and gloves while others did not.

However, they did make good hand hygiene a priority by frequently sanitising their hands. In a local supermarket customers' hands were sanitised when they entered and the handles of trolleys and baskets were sanitised before customers could use them.

Viljoen's motto for businesses and the wider public during this public health crisis is: "If you are scared you are not prepared."

He stresses that if businesses are prepared to deal with the risk of infection by practising good personal hygiene among staff and having dedicated sanitation points at entrances then they and their customers should not be worried.

Watch a video below.

For customers who are concerned about the safety of visiting public places during this time it is important to bear in mind that mingling with large crowds of people is inadvisable. If the shopping mall or restaurant you are visiting has sanitation measures in place at the entrance so that cleanliness of hands and common surfaces is maximised, then Viljoen says that people should by all means continue to do their shopping without fear. However, if the business does not have any sanitation measures in place and has a high volume of foot traffic, it is inadvisable to continue going there.

He also urges the public to avoid the panic buying of goods such as hospital-grade hand sanitiser and masks. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says washing your hands regularly with normal soap and water is enough to keep your hands clean and buying extremely strong sanitiser is unnecessary.

If you decide to take the precaution of wearing a face mask, it is important to make sure it is indeed a surgical mask. A dust mask such as those worn by builders, will not do because it is not designed to protect you from the small saliva droplets of infected people that spread the virus.

Viljoen stresses that the biggest thing people should avoid is fear and inaccurate information. He urges the public not to rely on social media for updates about the virus, citing the various fake news stories that have circulated recently.

Instead, rely on trusted sources such as reputable news outlets, official government websites and communication channels and the relevant local authorities.

Other precautions include sneezing or coughing into the bend of your elbow or a tissue (which must immediately be thrown away), keep a one metre distance between yourself and the person next to you and avoid shaking hands, by either bumping elbows or doing a foot tap. You should also avoid touching your face. Sanitise your hands after you have touched surfaces and items that are touched my many other people, such as money, card machines, tills and restaurant menus.

Staff at the zipline are protected with disposable gloves and masks and customers must sanitise their hands before entering the booking area.