Days after announcing that tourist spots across the state can be opened to the public to visit and spend time, the government of Tamil Nadu released the standard operating procedures (SOP) that will be in place at these spots. Beaches are among the destinations that will be reopened to visitors after it was shut in March following the lockdown. They are most likely to be reopened on December 14.
A government order, issued on Monday, stated that all the furniture and fixtures in the tourist spots must be disinfected on a daily basis and the floor must be marked for maintaining adequate physical distancing. Restaurants in tourist places have also been advised to leverage technology to prevent human contact as much as possible.
Here’s the list of SOPs issued by the state government:
> Visitors to be restricted to 50% of the total capacity in a spot to ensure there is adequate physical distancing between two persons. Those waiting to enter should wait in a designated seating area.
> Family groups can be considered as one group and it shall maintain a collective six feet distance from any other group.
> Ticketing may be moved online and issued based on available time slots for entry. Physical ticketing method shall be discouraged to prevent queuing and crowding at the counters. If unavoidable, adequate physical distancing shall be ensured at these points.
> Administrative department shall create a single entry and exit point wherever applicable.
> Thermal gun thermometer, hand sanitisers, hand gloves and masks shall be made available at the reception.
> Adequate posters and standees to be displayed across the spot with all relevant information like emergency numbers, do’s and don’t’s etc.
> Adequate isolation facilities to be kept ready for suspected COVID-19 cases among the staff or the visitors.
> Premises to have fully functional CCTV cameras to enable tracking and tracing of visitors in case someone tests positive for the virus.
> All employees must wear face masks, hand gloves and must undergo daily temperature checks.
> All employees must mandatorily download Arogya Setu app.
> The site administration shall constitute a Rapid Response Team headed by someone from the senior level which will be in charge of preventing incidents and managing and mitigating the impact in cases of incidents.
> High-risk employees like pregnant women, senior citizens shall not be exposed to frontline work at the spot.
> Tourists and visitors shall wear masks and avoid contact with any doorknobs.
> Tourists shall not visit any containment zones.