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Tourist beaches to open on June 1, joint Order on specific safety measures published in Official Journal
The joint order issued by the Health Ministry, the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Business Environment and the Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests for the approval of the regulation on specific measures to prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus during the operation of tourist beaches was published on Saturday in the Official Journal.
Starting with June 1, 2020, tourist beach activities are allowed, and the issued order covers exclusively the state of alert period, the Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests said in a release.
"The specific measures included in the order are mandatory for all the economic operators or, as the case may be, the managers who operate tourist beaches, as well as for all the citizens who will use the tourist beaches on the Romanian sea coast. The set of measures was devised by epidemiology experts of the National Committee for Emergency Situations," the release said.
To keep the tourists safe, the order requires sunbeds used by different families to be placed apart at a distance of two meters (to the left/right/front/back), and beachgoers who are not part of the same family, as well as staff to observe a 2m distance.
Access to the beach shall be through signalized points and one-way lanes, and beach personnel shall serve the customers, without the latter moving to the service points.
"If the capacity is exceeded and the physical distance cannot be maintained, beach managers are required to restrict the access of the public. They shall also constantly monitor the health of the staff and ban the access of people with obvious symptoms of a lung disease or of a transmissible disease. Any suspicion of, or confirmed COVID-19 case shall be immediately notified to the county public health directorates," the document states.
Experts of the Ministry of the Environment, Waters and Forests, the Health Ministry, the county and Bucharest public health directorates, of the specialized structures of the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Business Environment and the National Authority for Consumer Protection shall verify the observance of the measures provided for by the order. Failure to comply with the requirements entails disciplinary, civil, contraventional or criminal liability, as the case may be, according to the legislation on preventing and combating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The economic operators are required to provide approved biocidal devices and products necessary for the personnel to disinfect their hands, for the disinfection of the spaces, facilities, equipment and utensils used; to ensure the sanitation and disinfection with approved biocidal substances of all the spaces, facilities, equipment, toilets used by the staff of the economic operators or managers, and of those used by customers; to ensure staff retraining, under acknowledgement signature, on the general hygiene rules to be followed in the tourist facilities, including on additional measures for preventing the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus; staff shall be visually screened at the entrance to the unit and employees with visible signs of respiratory infection shall be denied access, according to the provisions of the joint Order of the Health Minister and of the Minister of Internal Affairs No. 874/81/2020 on the requirement to wear a protective mask, on the epidemiological screening and the mandatory disinfection of the hands with a view to preventing the contamination with the SARS-CoV-2 virus during the state of alert; ensure the supervision of the workers' health condition as per the provisions of the Government's Decision No. 355/2007 on the supervision of the workers' health, by having occupational physicians fill out the aptitude sheets for the personnel; ensure the physical distancing of the employees; make sure that the staff have completed the courses on basic hygiene notions, according to the provisions of the Order of the Health Minister and of the Minister of Education, Research and Youth No. 1225/5031/2003 on the approval of the Methodology for the organization and certification of the professional training of the staff on basic notions of hygiene, with the subsequent amendments and completions.
The economic operators or managers are required to notify the county public health directorate, or the Bucharest Municipality public health directorate if there are suspicions of, or confirmed cases of COVID-19 among the staff, and they shall take appropriate measures to sanitize the work space, if an employee has been found positive with COVID-19.
To keep the tourists safe, the economic operators or manages may resort to data projections and monitoring in order to estimate the capacity of the beach.
Beach reservations for certain time intervals shall be made through an online or telephone reservation system and/or by adopting strategic operating hours or flexible closing criteria.
Physical distancing rules shall be observed in the adjacent indoor areas (like dress-changing areas, locker rooms, toilets) with a minimum distance of 2 meters between persons (employees included) maintained at all times; exceptions refer to members of the same family or to the situations where the basic activity requires people to come closer (like for instance for lifting heavy equipment); work areas (like lifeguard chairs or towers) shall be fitted out so that the workers are at least 1.5 meters away from one another; where spacing is not possible, protective masks shall be used, or physical barriers such as plastic/acrylic panels must be installed; physical barriers between the employee and public space shall be mounted at payment points; serving of unpackaged foods and drinks shall be avoided as much as possible, snacks and drinks served shall be pre-packaged separately.
Before and after each use, beach equipment such as chairs, sunbeds, umbrellas shall be cleaned and disinfected with approved biocidal products; beach toilets must be provided with adequate hygiene consumables: water, soap, disinfectant with at least 60 pct alcohol, paper towels and touch-free trash cans. All equipment and installations shall be frequently cleaned and disinfected. Frequently touched surfaces shall be cleaned and disinfected at least daily.
Sport or leisure activities are allowed only in spaces specially designed for this purpose, with the limitation of the number of people who do not belong to the same family. Specific personalized signage is required for both employees and users regarding the general preventive measures, such as: "Observe the hand washing hygiene rules" and "Use a protective mask whenever the minimum 2m physical distance cannot be observed".