Despite the extension of quarantine in Ukraine until May 22, the Government has finally decided to lift part of the restriction on business from May 11, and it is official! Who exactly will be able to return to work and under what conditions?
Which business will be able to resume operations from May 11?
According to the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine №343 on mitigation of quarantine in Ukraine published on May 7, the following may return to work from 11 May:
- business entities that provide individual household services for the population (including service centers for electrical appliances, hairdressers, beauty salons, laundries, dry cleaners, enterprises for the manufacture of shoes and clothing to order, workshops for the repair of clothing and footwear, others);
- business entities that sell non-food products (exclusively in stores, including stores located in shopping and entertainment centers);
- catering establishments that serve customers in open (summer) outdoor areas or provide such services with the implementation of targeted delivery of orders and takeaway orders;
- enterprises, institutions, organizations that provide training for athletes of national teams of Ukraine in Olympic, non-Olympic, national sports and sports for people with disabilities, athletes of team sports of professional sports clubs;
- enterprises operating in the field of mass media (including press outlets, printers, editorial offices, logistics enterprises in the field of paper and printed media delivery, as well as television and radio organizations);
- business entities involved in the production of audiovisual works;
- lawyers, notaries, auditors and psychologists.
- However, businesses will be allowed to work only in compliance with the requirements set by the Resolution and subject to the recommendation of the Ministry of Health.
Anti-epidemic measures that businesses must follow when resuming work
During the work resumption, the business must comply with certain requirements and recommendations of the Ministry of Health regarding the procedure for work during the relaxation of quarantine.
The Ministry has already developed and submitted a draft of such recommendations. On 4 May, the relevant document was published on the official website of the Ministry of Health for public discussion. They concern the restoration of restaurants, non-food stores, beauty salons, hairdressers, consumer services, notaries, lawyers, auditors.
Common to all recommendations are to carry out temperature screening of employees before the start of work, use of personal protective equipment, disinfection of workplaces, admission of customers to the institution only in personal protective equipment, providing information to consumers about the restrictions and conditions of service. Businesses are also advised to ensure that appropriate temporary markings are applied, including outside the facility, in order to maintain a distance of at least 1.5 m between customers, as well as to temporarily exclude persons at risk.
At the same time, the Ministry of Health and the Chief State Sanitary Doctor of Ukraine set separate requirements for some business areas:
Hairdressers and beauty salons:
- to accept clients only by prior appointment with observance of a time interval not less than 15 minutes between visitors;
- to organize at the entrance to the institution a place for treatment of hands with antiseptics;
- to provide distance between places of rendering of services not less than 2 m;
- it is forbidden for outsiders to stay and for clients to wait for the service directly in the institution;
- allowed to stay in the room no more than 1 client per 10 square meters.
Institutions of individual consumer services:
- organize the reception of clients in such a way as to ensure the waiting of the queue outside the premises at a distance of at least 1.5 m from each other.
Entities trading in non-food products:
- allow the simultaneous stay of clients in the institution at the rate of not more than 1 person per 10kv. m area
The following work order is offered to public catering establishments:
- service in establishments is allowed only for takeaway by prior order and / or on summer playgrounds in the open air, provided that the distance between the tables is not less than 1.5 m and single or double placement of customers at one table;
- visitors are not allowed to enter the premises of public catering establishments;
- the order is made remotely (using telecommunications) or through a specially equipped window or front door of the institution;
- issuance of orders and payment is carried out through a specially equipped window or front door of the institution;
- the place of issuing orders and payment must prevent visitors from entering the premises of the institution and must be equipped with devices for contactless payment and a shelf for transferring orders without personal contact with the client;
- administration and staff must control the queue in front of the order window and ensure a distance between customers of 1.5 meters;
- the menu should be placed for acquaintance near the place of issue of the order, and delivery of the menu to clients is forbidden;
- all orders must be issued only in disposable containers and closed containers.
For notaries, lawyers and auditors:
- receive customers only by appointment and with a time interval of at least 15 minutes between visitors;
- the doors of the institution must be closed for entry without a record, at the door should be able to notify the arrival of the visitor and posted information about the methods of registration;
- waiting for customers to serve directly in the institution is prohibited;
- it is forbidden for outsiders to stay and for clients to wait for the service directly in the institution.
However, as of the end of the day on May 7, the final document with recommendations for business in quarantine has not yet been adopted by the Ministry of Health. His public discussion ended on May 6.
We can state that, although we are not sure, the Government is still taking a step to restore the economic activity of business, which cannot but be gratifying.
