Coronavirus: Mandatory Protocol for Restaurants and Bars in the City of Buenos Aires

Food establishments are being particularly affected by the social, preventive and mandatory distancing measures adopted by the government to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic. Since the first moment, an exception to the complete distancing was passed, by authorizing them to provide their services through “delivery” mode, in compliance with a specific protocol issued by the sanitary authority. It is important to highlight that under no circumstances were they allowed to provide services with personal contact with the public (Section 1, Subsection 10 from the Administrative Decision No. JGM 429/2020).

However, from May 12, 2020, in the City of Buenos Aires, this exception was extended to food establishments, which can provide their services under the “take away” mode (Administrative Decision No. 763-APN-JGM/20) following the “Protocol for the provision of services with the ‘take away’ modality in food establishments” (Resolution No. 325/MDEPGC/20 from the City of Buenos Aires). The protocol can be downloaded by using the following link.

This protocol establishes a series of hygiene and preventive recommendations for the care of employees and clients, and sets out guidelines for the employers. The Ministry of Economic and Production Development from the City of Buenos Aires will oversee the policies’ implementation to control the rules related to the employment protection and regulation. Also, when an infraction of the public health protection rules is confirmed, the competent authority will be given intervention for the possible commission of a criminal offence (Emergency Decree No. 297/2020).

Below, we will make a brief review of some of the requirements of the Protocol that food establishments must enforce, regardless of the specific regulation that exists in other guidelines where labor obligations and personal data protection are anticipated.

 

1. Precautionary Measures

The staff must follow different mandatory precautionary measures, which include the following:

• The distance between people of at least 1.5 meters must be maintained.
• Not to share objects and utensils.
• Respiratory hygiene measures should be reinforced when coughing or sneezing, carry out frequent handwashing and maximize the precaution in the use of PPE and, eventually, of glasses.
• Employers must train their employees on precautionary measures, guarantee the transfer of the employees by hiring transport services; and make a daily screen of the employee’s temperature and other symptoms, and alert the authorities in case of a possible Covid-19 infection.

 

2. Hygiene measures

Every food establishment must respect a series of hygiene measures , which include the following:

• · Reinforce the establishment’s disinfection measures and especially of those areas that may be focal points of infection.
• Control that all hand washing areas and utensils are supplied with disinfectant soap and paper hand towels, and place hand sanitizer in bathrooms.
• Food should be kept protected in boxes or showcases.
• Develop a plan to improve the hygiene conditions in the reception of raw materials, the elaboration and storage of products, reinforcing the traceability system for raw materials and processed products.
• Implement systems to reduce the time spent at the premises.

 

3. Graphic attachment

The Protocol also includes a graphic attachment in which graphic indications that the establishment will need to exhibit are provided, according to the amount of regular clients that the establishment has.

(i) Inside the establishment

Separation from the counter, start and continuation of lines: Demarcate a 60 cm straight line 50 cm away from the counter. Then, leave 1.50 meters from the separation from the counter’s line and mark the line positions with 30 cm. long straight lines. Finally, to separate the waiting positions in the line leave 1.50 meters of distance and mark the position with a 30 cm. long line.

(ii) Outside the establishment

In front of the entrance door to the establishment, demarcate a straight line 60 cm long, using a different color from the rest of the lines. Then, from that first mark, the demarcation guideline of 1.50 meters should be followed, without the line interfering with the pedestrian crossing or the service area of the sidewalk (e.g. bus or taxi stops).

(iii) Differentiated lines

 

There must be two lines for establishments that provide both “take away” and “delivery” services, maintaining a distance of 1.5 m between them, and, if possible, identifying the differentiation with posters.