Drive-thru hand-washing, face masks, temperature checks: Food, retail spotlight safety

Chick-fil-A’s new double drive-thru lane at Ward Parkway had a steady stream of customers this week, along with some new safety measures to ease fears during the COVID-19 crisis.

Employees are now wearing bright red face masks as they take customers’ orders and payments. Then, about every 20 to 30 minutes throughout their shift, they step over to wash their hands at a new hot water station and put on new gloves.

Sneeze guards, employee temperature checks, face masks, one-way aisles, touchless payments and social distancing occupancy limits are the latest precautions retailers and restaurants are taking during the crisis.

“We are handing food to people with a tray. We aren’t selling ice cream cones, just ice cream in a sealed cup,” said Chick-fil-A franchisee Forrest Swyden. “We’re only taking cash at the window.”

McDonald’s and Taco Bell are making thermometers available for employees to use at the beginning of their shifts, and Hy-Vee is now offering full-service fueling at its convenience stores from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

Family Tree Nursery customers make a 45-minute appointment for in-store shopping.

“We ask them to please come in with a purpose so everyone has a chance to come in and shop,” said general manager Mark Titzman. “Everyone is doing it right and keeping their distance because they want this to stop.”

If the nurseries don’t have 50 appointments during the period, they will take walk-ins. Customers also can shop online for curbside pick-up at the Overland Park nursery, and call in to order with curbside pick-up at the Liberty and Shawnee locations.

Meanwhile, the Kansas City Health Department is conducting complaint and re-inspections on food establishments, but not routine inspections, as they ramp up COVID-19 education and enforcement.

The department is getting about 50 to 60 stay-at-home order complaints a day — including businesses not allowing for appropriate social distancing, open but not an essential business under the order, a co-worker showing up sick, and owners making workers come to work without safety measures in place. The health department then might contact the owner, do a site visit to provide education or issue a warning letter.

Health inspectors with the Kansas Department of Agriculture also want to concentrate on the COVID-19 crisis. So the department is limiting its routine inspections to those with complaints called in by customers and new licensing inspections — for start-ups or changes in ownership. It conducted 15 inspections on grocery, restaurant and convenience stores in Johnson, Wyandotte and Douglas counties from March 23 to April 3.

“Although this is not a foodborne illness related disease, everyone has a heightened level of concern about cleaning and disinfecting and restaurants are always wanting to know what that means for them. It’s been a real adjustment for them,” said Heather Lansdowne, spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Agriculture.

The deadline for annual license renewals was March 31, but that has been pushed back since the restaurants are overwhelmed with new administrative guidelines as well as financial burdens during the shelter-in-place order.

The Kansas Department of Agriculture, along with the Kansas Restaurant & Hospitality Association, also developed guidelines so the eateries could repackage food to be sold to consumers or donated to local organizations, which would normally require a different license.

“This is a very difficult time for restaurants. Keeping them open helps feed the community, helps provide jobs,” Lansdowne said.