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Updated: 4:29 p.m., Friday, May 8, 2020
The Cuyahoga County Board of Health is asking residents to familiarize themselves with new rules and guidelines before going out as Ohio鈥檚 restaurants, salons and retailers prepare to reopen next Friday.
The board is responsible for , which include spacing tables appropriately, limiting the number of people in a facility and requiring personal protective equipment (PPE) for some employees.
Local enforcement of those guidelines is in line with the board of health鈥檚 normal operations, said Public Information Officer Kevin Brennan.
鈥淲e have several people on staff who are field-based food sanitarians and inspectors,鈥� Brennan said. 鈥淲hen it comes to those types of locations, I think we will be well-suited to follow up.鈥�
Salons and retail will be new territory for the health department, Brennan said, but employees are prepared to address those areas as well.
The department expects to have proper staffing in place by next week to meet the need for inspections and follow-up, Brennan said. When the state ordered non-essential businesses to close, he said, the board rearranged staff to cover enforcement of the governor鈥檚 order.
鈥淲e pulled our staff from other programs that were field-based programs to respond to this, and I think we鈥檒l do the same thing here,鈥� Brennan said.
Anyone with concerns can call their local board of health to report violations.
鈥淪ometimes when we get complaints, it鈥檚 not always in line with what the mandates are indicating,鈥� Brennan said. 鈥淲e just want the people who are calling us to register a complaint to fully understand just what the mandates and the guidelines are.鈥�
Response times could vary based on the number of calls the department receives, he said.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it will turn into a situation where we will be unable to deal with it,鈥� said Brennan, who is already anticipating the most common complaints will be about having enough physical space.
One Cleveland City Council member is proposing to help restaurants with potential spacing issues by shutting down some streets to cars, allowing for more room on outdoor patios.
Councilman Kerry McCormack said several parts of his ward could be good contenders, including Ohio City, Tremont, the Warehouse District and areas around the stadiums.
鈥淭he purpose of this is to support our local restaurants at a time when they have already taken a blow from this pandemic,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd then when they reopen, they鈥檙e going to have a lot of different regulations on how they need to operate.鈥�
McCormack said he鈥檇 like restaurants and neighbors to be part of that conversation.
As we move into the summer, I am requesting that the City 1锔忊儯 Identify & close certain streets to all vehicle traffic in to support local restaurants & businesses 2锔忊儯 Remove rush hour and special event parking restrictions 3锔忊儯 Priotitize transit and multimodal connections
— Kerry McCormack (@KerryMcCormack1)
鈥淲e know that there are a lot of smaller retailers,鈥� Brennan said. 鈥淚 think one of the biggest jobs for retailers will be ensuring that there is proper social distancing.鈥�
Thecounty board of health doesn鈥檛 plan to fine anyone for an initial offense, Brennan said, but fines will come after repeated violations or if a business is creating a significant health risk.
ideastream's Nick Castele contributed to this report.
