Deputy Mayor Samir Mayekar is talking to reporters about how businesses can reopen. I'll live tweet it.

Follow for updates and let me know if you have questions.

Related: https://blockclubchicago.org/2020/05/27/coronavirus-in-chicago-illinois-is-falling-from-its-peak-as-businesses-prepare-to-reopen/

Mayekar: The guidelines were developed part of an "immensely collaborative" effort.

Mayekar: The guidelines "are rooted in health care guidance."

Mayekar: What are healthy interactions like between employees and customers?
What do safe spaces and conditions look like?
What is operational resilience and monitoring need to look like?

Mayekar: They want businesses to be prepared, which is why they partnered to create a Rheaply marketplace where businesses can buy personal protective equipment from local vendors. https://www.rheaply.com/ 

Reporter asks why Chicago's capacity limits are ~25% rather than 50% and if that could mean some businesses don't reopen.
Mayekar: "We can be more strict than state requirements as needed ... . We are serious about cautiously reopening. And because Chicago is a dense city, in ...

"many contexts, we believe the 25% capacity restrictions is the right place to start."

Mayekar: "... Some establishments will be at 25%. We've worked with industries and in many instances that can be viable ... . Regardless of what capacity restrictions are, if consumers don't feel safe, then they won't [patronize] the businesses. That's why we've been very ...

"cautious with these metrics."
They'll reevaluated the capacity limit and can "dial that switch up."

Michael Cornicelli, BOMA: "In very general terms, the nature of the office spaces we have in Downtown Chicago, for example, is very different than" elsewhere in Illinois. High rise offices tend to be more congested. The 25% capacity limit is "not unreasonable."

Mayekar: Most of the capacity restrictions pertain to indoor spaces. "We are committed, and the mayor's talked about trying to really find ways to help our restauranteur community. We continue that dialogue with our colleagues in the state to see how best we can support the ...

"restaurant community."

Sam Toia from the Illinois Restaurant Association: "When we do the outside dining for cafes, it's social distancing, so ... tables need to be 6 feet apart." They're seeing if they could cancel some streets, some parking lots, maybe bike and bus lanes ...

for restaurants. They're trying to help restaurants that don't have outdoor seating, like on 26th Street in Little Village, 53rd Street in Hyde Park. Maybe some non-restaurant businesses next door to restaurants will allow them to use the space in front of their stores. "But ...

"social distancing is No. 1."

What should people do if they go into a business and see the rules aren't being met or feel uncomfortable with how a business is being run?
Mayekar: "What we advise consumer to do is if they are seeing an establishment not following protocols, we advise them to call 311 and ...

"that way we can have the right enforcement teams go out and make sure they're monitoring compliance. That has already been the protocol based on the governor's shelter in place order. Additionally, we have self-certification on the reopening site. We invite the businesses to ...

"basically go through a checklist and they'll be able to put out the Be Safe Chicago logo ... . And then we'll be doing spot checks."

BACP Commissioner Rosa Escareno: "We've worked very closley with the industry over the first several months. We continue to encourage our residents to call 311."

Mayekar: They're focused on employee and customer safety.

Mayekar: "In general, we are advising reservations for all types of services — and that extends to restaurants, as well ... so we have that information should" they need it for tracing. In personal services, there's close-quarters interactions between customers and employees.

CDPH Medical Director Dr. Jennifer Layden: "We certainly encourage individuals to always keep track of where they've been, restaurants to be able to pull a list. But in contact tracing and investigation, the most energy will be directed to places where there's more prolonged, ...

"direct contact and higher risk to potential exposure. That would be a focus in some settings."

Gia Biagi from CDOT: "We have across our transit system aggressive station-cleaning protocols ... we will also continue those protocols in addition having guidance for passengers ourselves," which advises them to maintain distance, wear masks, etc. On capacity: "Obviously ...

"that's something we're looking at across the system. ... We're looking at how we can add capacity across the system, whether that's additional buses," more train cards, more bus/rapid transit lanes. "We also want to encourage other modes of transit, whether that's bike, ...

"whether that's walking, of course, if that's possible. There's a whole range of opportunities. We'd like to encourage multiple forms of transit, in addition to the car ... . Certainly the staggered shifts is something that helps a lot, so we're continuing those conversations ...

"both with the business community" and other parts of the transit network.

Michael Cornicelli, BOMA: "If the goal is to reduce contact points, to reduce transmission, there's no magic bullet that's gonna do that for every business all at once. You see restrictions here on the number or percentage of workers that can return. You're seeing suggestions ...

"that they consider staggered hours, whether that is some people start at 8 o'clock, 9 o'clock, 10 o'clock and leave accordingly. In other cases, people might be moving Mondays and Tuesdays ... . These guidelines are deliberately somewhat open-ended" so buildings can adapt to ...

them to fit their operational needs. Not everyone can do these.

Mayekar: "The mayor said early June in terms of reopening. When there's news on that, we'll make sure you all have it. Safety is paramount."

Tanya Triche, IRMA: "We had nail salons and hair salons on the team that we led and they had a lot to say about this issue. They were ...

"very concerned about making sure that their shops were safe because their clients won't come back if they don't feel like they're not gonna be taken care of while they're there. The emphasis on wearing the face mask, for sure, that's gonna be required for everyone. But also ...

"not allowing services where you have to take that face mask off." Barbers can't do beard trims, etc. Makeup artists can't do a full face. "That's really important and that was a tough conversation to have because that, frankly, is a challenge to them financially to not be ...

"able to offer all the services they'd like. ... What was more important to them was not only the people who work in the salon feel safe, but their clients feel safe, as well." They've also recommended they wear goggles and/or face shields where it makes sense.

Layden: "When we think about transmission for this virus, we know the highest risk for transmission occurs when someone is very early in their disease course ... and those droplets from someone coughing or sneezing go into the air and then they expose individuals who they're ...

"near. It's that close contact from droplets that are contagious with the virus, or if those droplets land on surfaces and someone comes into contact with them. The guidance out there is really set to reduce that risk of exposure."
If you're sick, stay home. If you're in ...

close contact with someone who's sick, stay home. Practice social distancing. Wash your hands, etc.
"All these guidances are there to help reduce the risk. That being said, we are still seeing cases and it's important that everyone takes a step and is aware of the potential ...

"risk and takes steps to minimize the risk of exposure."
Individuals more at risk "really should think twice" about going to the store, services, etc.

Mayekar: "The pre-COVID Chicago workforce was about 1.4 million. We estimate that the number of full-time employees unable to work is right around 300,000, so this brings over one-third of that workforce back into the economy."

Mayekar: "Currently the state guidelines, indoor dining is only permitted when you're within 8 feet of a retractable window that compromises 50% of the wall. We are interested in seeing the expansion of indoor dining to the extent that's possible."

Asked about outdoor dining:

Layden: Indoor "is it's often more of a confined space, the potential for more close interactions ... often less air circulation." The vast majority of outbreaks have occurred within closed, indoor spaces. "Taking advantage of outdoors, where ...

"there's potential for more spreading out, air circulation, that is an additional factor that we can use to reduce the risk of transmission exposure for individuals at that setting."

Toia: "Obviously in our group we talked about the safety and health of our customers and" ...

staff. People can use the bathroom indoors if they wear a mask. They can eat without masks. Hopefully data keeps going down and they can progress.

Mayekar: "Under Mayor Lightfoot's leadership, we passed the Anti-Retaliation Ordinance where employers are not able to retaliate against employees who are following health orders, and that extends to vulnerable populations. ... Obviously it's very important that workers feel ...

"safe and that our most vulnerable populations aren't put in a situation where they are at risk."

Layden: "We do know that individuals that are older, have underlying conditions are at greater risk, especially for more severe disease. When individuals are making choices or ...

"decisions, there's a lot of factors that have to be considered, including their risk for being exposed or having severe disease. Being thoughtful to those" and being "creative in approach and policies" for those people is something they're encouraging for workplaces.

Biagi: "You'll definitely see some of the protocls that we've taken continue — rear boarding, those kinds of things ... . It's hard to predict the trends." They're down 80%. The Brown Line is down 90% but other lines on the South and West sides are down but much higher. "It's ...

"gonna be different across the system as we're mapping where people are coming from and where they're going. ... We're looking at things like how we can have additional bus routes, how we can prioritize the movements ... and, of course, all of the work that's been done, we'll ...

"be doubling down on the disinfecting multiple times a day" and have employees wear masks.
"It's certainly a high priority to make sure the public feels confident in the system."

Mayekar: CTA is piloting and testing different things, like antimicrobial surface coating.

Biagi on taxis and ride-hails: "They're also looking at how they can maintain, as much as possible, that distance: encouraging passengers to sit in the backseat to create that distance," making contactless payment system, limiting passengers, making sure all interactions are ...

"sanitary, creating barriers if possible.

Mayekar: Taxi guidelines will come out within the next 48 hours.

Mayekar: "We want to make sure that they're focused not just on making sure that business can commence but also that there are adequate worker protections in place. To that, we've got a number of worker protection ordinances to kind of address exactly your question so that ...

"employers can't retaliate against employees for trying to follow the right health guidance." But "by and large" employers want to do the right thing.

Mayekar: "Obviously, the vitality of our restaurant industry is something we are deeply focused on. And in a time of facing unprecedented challenges, as a regulatory body we have to be adaptive and flexible while also making sure we're enforcing the law."

Escareno: Businesses with liquor consumption license, that activity can take place outdoor. It is liquor-only bars, for example, that would not be allowed to have outdoor dining or allow patrons in their facilities.
They're looking at how they can allow mixed drink pick-up at ...

liquor-only locations. "The mixed drink local solution could provide them additional relief and additional products that they can actually resort to and sell and hopefully increase their profit margins."

Escareno: "We have continually processed sidewalk cafe permits, so we encourage restaurants who are interested in that permit to certainly come to our website or call us. ... And we are working under the mayor's leadership for additional initiatives that will be supportive of ...

"businesses in this realm. I encourage those who are interested in operating on the sidewalks to definitely look for us."

Mayekar: "Currently it is not going to be viable, from a safety perspective, for pools or sprinkler stations to open. We need to keep monitoring the ...

health ecoystem first."

Mike Kelly from Chicago Parks: "We are cautiously reopening ... ." Pools and sprinklers "really don't jive with the health guidelines."

Kelly: Pools and playgrounds need to remain closed during Phase 3.

Mayekar: "We have a deep amount of collaboration with our colleagues at the state, both myself and my counterpart, Dan Hynes ... ."

Mayekar: "Under Mayor Lightfoot's leadership we've really focused on ensuring this is a health-focused recovery. It's really important that the reopening meet those health guidelines. We monitor those numbers every single day, and I would expect to hear soon in terms of where ...

"we're trending" in terms of a date for reopening.

Mayekar, drinks to go: "It will involve changes for the city of Chicago in terms of passing an ordinance, so that's something we're looking at deeply right now."

Escareno: "The mayor's very supportive of this and we're working on some (legislation?) that's specific to Chicago."

Layden: They're "hopeful" we won't have to go back. But they'll keep monitoring the data. "We are looking at multiple metrics to give us the sense of ... the burden of disease across our city."

Cristina Pacione-Zayas, Erikson Institute: "We were in close collaboration with the state as we were designing the guidance, of course, following the state and then determining if there was anything we wanted to be more strict about."

Pacione-Zayas: "Of course, we want to protect the workforce and the young children that are going to be" using the space. Their workforce is primarily older women of color.

Call over.