The beach, the tourist, the sand and the roulette!

Here are the new health safety measures announced by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests (MMAP), together with the Ministry of Health (MS) and the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Business Environment (MEEMA). Strangely enough, the Dobrogea Litoral Water Basin Administration , the institution that takes care of all the beaches on the coast , was not consulted on these new rules.

Starting from June 1, 2020, tourist beach operation activities are allowed. This provision is included in a joint Order issued this evening by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests (MMAP), together with the Ministry of Health (MS) and the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Business Environment (MEEMA). The normative act establishes the specific measures to prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, for the operating activities of tourist beaches and is valid exclusively during the state of alert.

The specific measures contained in the Order are mandatory for all economic operators or, as the case may be, administrators who carry out tourist beach operation activities, but also for all citizens who will use the tourist beaches on the Romanian coast. The set of measures was carried out by epidemiologists from the National Committee for Emergency Situations.

The specific measures for the protection of tourists provide for the observance of a distance of two meters (left/right, front/back) between sunbeds that are used by people from different families and, at the same time, keeping a distance of two meters between tourists who are not part of the same family as well as by the employed staff. 

Access to the beach will be achieved through signalized points and one-way color, and customer service will be done by the staff of the concessionary beach, without moving customers to the service points

If the established capacity limits are exceeded and physical distance cannot be maintained, beach managers have an obligation to restrict public access. They must also constantly monitor the health status of the working staff and deny access to people who show respiratory symptoms specific to lung diseases or specific signs of other communicable diseases.

Any suspicion or confirmed case of COVID-19 will be immediately notified to the county public health departments.

The application of the specific measures contained in the Joint Order will be controlled by specialized personnel within the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, the county public health departments and the Municipality of Bucharest , the specialized structures of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and the National Consumer Protection Authority. Failure to comply with the obligations provided for will result in disciplinary, civil, contravention or criminal liability, as appropriate, in accordance with the legislation for the prevention and combating of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The normative act was published in the Official Gazette of Romania no. 461 of May 30, 2020.

Special requirements regarding specific sanitary, economic measures and requirements for the operation of tourist beaches

• Economic operators or administrators, as the case may be, in the tourist beach sector, before the resumption of activities, have the following obligations: 
• checking the state of maintenance of all premises, facilities, equipment;
• revision of plans and procedures for sanitation, disinfection and self-control to increase the frequency of these operations; 
• the provision of approved biocidal devices and products necessary to disinfect the hands of the working staff, the spaces, facilities, equipment and utensils used;
• sanitization and disinfection with approved biocidal substances, of all spaces, facilities, equipment, sanitary groups used by the working personnel of economic operators or administrators, as the case may be, and those used by customers; 
• signed retraining of the working staff regarding the general rules of hygiene that must be respected at the level of the units, including additional measures regarding the prevention of the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus;
• upon entering the unit, there will be an observational triage of employees (access to personnel with visible signs of respiratory infection will be prohibited), according to the provisions of the joint order of the Minister of Health and the Minister of Internal Affairs no. 874/81/2020 regarding the establishment of the obligation to wear a protective mask, epidemiological triage and mandatory hand disinfection to prevent contamination with the SARS-CoV-2 virus during the state of alert;
• ensuring the supervision of workers' health according to the provisions of Government Decision no. 355/2007 on the supervision of the health of workers, by the conclusion by the occupational medicine doctor of the skill sheets for the working staff, with subsequent amendments and additions;
• ensuring physical distancing among employees;
• the assurance that the working personnel have completed the courses regarding the acquisition of the fundamental notions of hygiene, according to the provisions of the Order of the Minister of Health and the Minister of Education, Research and Youth no. 1225/5031/2003 regarding the approval of the Methodology for the organization and certification of the professional training of the staff regarding the acquisition of the fundamental notions of hygiene, with subsequent amendments and additions.
• Upon completion of the measures taken before the start of the activity, economic operators or administrators, as the case may be, are obliged to keep, at the unit level, documents to demonstrate that the measures provided for in paragraph (1), lit. a) – h). These documents will be made available to the control bodies, whenever requested. 
• After resuming the activity, in accordance with the provisions of art. 4, para. (1) and (2) economic operators, respectively beach administrators, as the case may be, must realize:
  • compliance with specific plans and procedures and the formulation of an internal plan of measures aimed at preventing the transmission of the new Coronavirus, both among the unit's workers and in the relationship with customers;
  • increasing the frequency of cleaning and disinfection operations with approved biocidal products, based on documented procedures, of all spaces, facilities, equipment used by staff and customers;
  • permanent monitoring of the health status of the working personnel and the prohibition of access to persons presenting respiratory symptoms specific to lung diseases or specific signs of other communicable diseases; 
  • the staff will be trained and informed about the measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and in particular the need to permanently maintain adequate rules of hygiene and sanitary protection;
  • notification of the county public health department, respectively of the municipality of Bucharest, in case there are suspicions or confirmed cases of COVID-19 among the working staff;

Tourist protection measures

Economic operators or administrators, as the case may be, have the following obligations regarding the protection of tourists in the spaces to which they have access:

• they will place the access and behavior regulations on the beach in a visible place;
• measures are taken to maintain a distance of 2 m (left/right, front/back) between sunbeds that are used by people from different families.
• to estimate the capacity of the beach while maintaining the physical distance, both previous data projections and active monitoring can be used.
• administrators will ensure access to the beach within the adopted capacity limits, maintaining physical distance, discouraging overcrowding and limiting large gatherings.
• also, in order to achieve the objectives of reducing the risk of transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, beach managers must adopt measures to:
  • restricting access to the beach if established capacity limits are exceeded and physical distance cannot be maintained;
  • ensuring access through clearly signposted entry points;
  • establishment of unidirectional, separate, input and output colors;
  • reserving the use of the beach for certain periods of time is done through an online or telephone reservation system and / or adopting strategic operating hours or flexible closing criteria;
  • cooperation with law enforcement to redirect or divert vehicles / people, if the maximum established capacity is reached;
  • limiting the number of employees interacting with the public;
• access to adjacent indoor areas (e.g. changing areas, changing rooms, toilets) must comply with physical distancing rules;
• a distance of at least 2 meters must be maintained between people (including employees) at all times, except: members of the same family or if the safety of the core activity requires a shorter distance (for example, lifting heavy equipment).
• Work areas are set up (for example, lifeguard chairs, towers) so that those providing services on the beach are at least 1,5 meters apart; when distancing is not possible, provision should be made for the use of protective masks or physical barriers such as plastic/plexiglas panels should be adopted,
• the installation of physical barriers at the payment points, these being located between the space reserved for employees and the public;
• customer service will be done by the staff of the concession beach, without moving customers to the service points;
• avoid, as much as possible, serving unpackaged products and drinks; the snacks and drinks served will be individually prepackaged;
• in the case of unlicensed beaches, the local public administration will be responsible for maintaining physical distancing rules and avoiding the formation of agglomerations;
• signaling the appropriate distances with the visible delimitation of the direction for the entry and exit areas, to control the presence / density of users;
• the beach equipment (for example, chairs, sunbeds, umbrellas) must be used individually, without this equipment being shared between people who are not family members of the same residence;
• before and after each use, beach equipment (eg chairs, sunbeds, umbrellas) will be cleaned and disinfected with approved biocidal products;  
• beach toilets must be provided with adequate supplies for hygiene: water, soap, disinfectant with at least 60% alcohol, paper towels and touch-free trash cans. Their frequent cleaning and disinfection will be ensured.
• frequently touched surfaces must be cleaned and disinfected at least daily;
• sports or agreement activities are not allowed except in spaces specially arranged for this purpose, with the limitation of the number of people who do not belong to the same family;
• specific personalized signage for both employees and users regarding general preventive measures, such as:
  • "follow the hygiene rules regarding hand washing";
    • "use the protective mask whenever the physical distance of at least 2 m cannot be respected";
• ensure that physical distancing rules are effectively enforced and that physical interaction with and between customers is avoided as much as possible;
• it is ensured that the staff of the economic operator or the beach administrator, as the case may be, will wear a mask;
• provides devices and approved biocidal products necessary for disinfecting tourists' hands and informing them about how to use them; 
• provides sunbeds for each person as well as their disinfection after each person.