ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp on Friday further relaxed a number of restrictions on how bars and restaurants operate in Georgia, after doing away with many last month and declaring the state "open for business."
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For restaurants and bars, only a handful of COVID-19 mitigation provisions still remain. Under the governor's latest executive order, they include:
- Screen and evaluate workers who exhibit symptoms of COVID-19.
- Require workers who exhibit symptoms of COVID-19 to not report to work or to seek medical attention.
- Maintain a regular cleaning schedule for the entire facility and frequently clean and sanitize high contact areas that are touched often by workers and/or patrons including, but not limited to, bar tops, table condiments, digital ordering devices, check presenters, self-service areas, reusable menus, tabletops, and playgrounds.
- Posting signage at the entrances to the facility stating that individuals who have been diagnosed with COVID-19, have symptoms of COVID-19, or had contact with a person that has or is suspected to have COVID-19 within the past 14 days and have not completed the post-exposure quarantine protocol shall not enter the facility.
- Where practicable, physical barriers such as partitions or Plexiglass at registers should be used.
- Use technological solutions where possible to reduce person-to-person interaction: mobile ordering, mobile access to menus, text on arrival for seating, and contactless payment options.
- Ensure ventilation systems operate properly and increase circulation and purification of air within facilities as practicable.
Four guidelines that had remained in the previous executive order have now been removed. Those were:
- Require workers to wear face coverings while interacting with patrons.
- A mandated 42 inches of separation between seating arrangements.
- Providing service only to seated patrons, no standing room.
- Establishing designated pathways for customers to enter and exit.