Covid-19: South African Chamber of Commerce suggests a staggered return to business

The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) said they acknowledge the difficult but necessary discussion that President Cyril Ramaphosa has taken to extend the 21-day lockdown with a further two weeks, to flatten the curve of Covid-19 cases.

Due to this extension, the chamber suggested, “A staggered return to business, starting with industries who can demonstrate high levels of social distancing and health control, like the fast food outlets(FFOs) industry.” Adding that the industry already follows high health and safety standards.

The chamber has recommended the following Covid-19 health risk mitigation conditions in fast-food outlets to the government:

• All staff can be appropriately and consistently tested for health and Covid-19 infection
• Staff to be provided with the relevant personal protective equipment where applicable, such as masks
• The outlets to maintain the highest standards of hygiene
• The industry to make suitable arrangements for the transportation of their staff to and from work, and to ensure that the chosen mode of transport meets the highest of health standards
• To start, prepared food orders can be distributed through a drive-thru and delivery channels, then followed by take away or call and collect under strict social distancing. No sit-downs to be allowed.

SACCI believes that the reopening of fast-food outlets would be a responsible way to slowly bring back business to the food industry, particularly as the country is in a technical recession and has been downgraded to junk status by international credit rating agencies.

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