Idaho Rebounds: Stage 2 guidance for gyms, recreation facilities

Gov. Brad Little is expected to announce at a Thursday press conference that stage two of the Idaho Rebounds plan will begin Saturday.

Stage two will reopen beauty salons, restaurant dining areas, indoor gyms and recreation facilities, provided those businesses meet health protocols.

Idaho Rebounds provided the following protocols as guidance for facilities as they prepare to reopen during stage two.

Establish protocols to maintain a six-foot physical distance among patrons and staff.

Possibilities include limiting the number of people in the facility at once, making sure there is optional ventilation for inside activities while considering how some activities could be conducted outside.

Establish protocols to reduce the risk of spread of COVID-19 among staff and patrons.

Such protocols include thoroughly disinfecting all equipment before and after each use and limiting sharing of equipment. Facilities should consider implementing special hours of operation for vulnerable populations and discontinuing any types of activities for which it is not possible to maintain physical distancing guidelines.

The use of cloth face coverings or masks and gloves should be encouraged, where possible and safe.

Establish plans to provide adequate hand hygiene and sanitation.

This includes identifying how the organization will provide for disinfection of the facility and all high-touch surfaces throughout the day.

Organizations should identify how shared equipment will be disinfected after each user. Towels and non disposable items should be laundered after each use, and items touched by more than one patron, such as basketballs, should be disinfected after each use.

Identify strategies for working with public health to notify patrons and staff if the facility learns someone who developed COVID-19 may have been infectious to others while at the facility.

Strategies to address ill employees should include requiring COVID-19 positive employees to stay home while infectious and may include restricting employees who were directly exposed to the positive employee, as well as the closure of the business until the location can be properly disinfected.

Organizations should maintain confidentiality of an infected person.

For full details on business-specific protocols for opening, visit the Idaho Rebounds website.