Page 22 - GBC Winter 2020 ENG

So, she went home and to be extra careful, she went and got tested. Two days later, on the Saturday night at 6PM, I got a call from our F&B Manager saying that she had just called him to say that she had tested positive for COVID. My first reaction?? It was “Oh S _ _ T”.
GBC: When did you make the decision to shut down your F&B operation?
JC: I decided right away to close. I wasn’t sure if we were supposed to or what we were mandated to do, but I decided immediately to send the staff home and to tell the customers that one of our employees who was working a few days prior had tested positive.
I am a believer that the truth will always come out eventually, and it’s best to tackle a crisis head on. We literally asked people to stand up from their tables, told them that we would be in touch with an update within 48 hours, and told them we would take care of their drink and food bills.
Despite the drama of that situation, and the abruptness of the end to their evening, overall the feedback we received on that action was appreciative – especially from those who had been racking up a healthy tab!
GBC: How and when did you inform the local community (golfers and restaurant regulars) of the situation? How did the local media portray the story?
JC: Our restaurant serves our golfers and our local residents, so we sent out a message to our database that night. Not surprisingly, I quickly started receiving calls from the media asking if it was true. Remember, this was when Kelowna went from almost zero cases to a significant outbreak after the July long weekend, and we were one of the first few businesses that were named in the press as having a positive case.
I gave a few media interviews and stressed three key messages: first, that we had closed immediately out of an abundance of caution; second, that we were actively seeking guidance from the health authorities; and third, that we would not reopen until all our restaurant staff had a clean bill of health and that the restaurant received a deep cleaning.
The result was that the media messaging was very, very positive, and I sensed that the media were committed to supporting local businesses who were open, transparent and proactive in preventing the spread.
GBC: How long was your F&B operation closed? How did you handle the staffing issues (lost wages), restaurant deep cleaning process, etc.?
JC: On the Monday, I was able to speak with the health authorities and I learned a very valuable piece of information. They told me their definition of ‘close contact’. We were advised to only be concerned if any staff member or customer had spent more than 15 cumulative minutes within two feet of the infected person during the identified ‘transmission period’. As a result, only four of our sixty plus staff had to self-isolate for 14 days.
I did field numerous calls from customers who wanted to know if they were served by that staff person and some of those calls were challenging. What do you say to someone who tells you they are about to head off to their family reunion and are worried about getting their elderly parents sick, or another customer who was about to begin coaching a hockey school.
My response was to tell them what the health authorities told me, which was that they had no cause for concern unless they were within a few feet of that person for 15 cumulative minutes. Also, they should direct their questions to those health authority sources as well as monitor themselves and if they have symptoms, get tested.
Luckily, we had no new positive tests within our staff, and many of us got tested as soon as we were able. We also brought in our cleaning company to do a deep
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