With the COVID-19 pandemic having an impact across the world, many campuses are taking precautions to ensure the health and safety of their staff and students. Unfortunately, not all campuses are able to fully close operations and send students away. However, they are doing their utmost to stay on top of the COVID-19 situation. Let’s look at some of the measures that are being taken.
Limiting Options
Locations are taking it upon themselves to remove self serve stations, and even limit grab & go items. With fewer individuals having physical contact with food items, it may prevent the COVID-19 virus from spreading in these instances. This seems to be a good idea, as with multiple individuals touching food servicing items or grab & go, infected persons could easily spread the virus to unsuspecting customers. As a result, it would be difficult to track down all the potential effected people. It also limits staff exposure to external customers, again limiting contact points with food items.
Another consideration would be to implement mobile food ordering. If you don’t already have a system in place, reach out to your campus card or food service providers, or external companies, in order to find a solution that works for your needs.
Physical Barriers
We also have examples of campuses limiting the number of students entering dining halls, in the case of locations that remain open. Examples could include simply counting out a certain number of people that are allowed to enter at one time. Alternatively, specifying them into pre determined groups and giving them a time slot for each meal block.
Another important measure takes into consideration social distancing, by either removing tables and chairs completely or limiting their usage. Removing them completely deters people from congregating and spending time in these spaces. Limiting usage by either removing some table/chairs or putting guidelines on distancing are also helpful (ie. reserved signs on tables, rules for seating only at every other table).
Future Planning
Reaching out to external cleaning companies or support services may also be helpful in case it’s needed. Some locations may need additional help in maintaining sterile environments. The sheer size of many campuses may not allow for current staff to handle the additional demand. In certain cases, external companies may also have cleaning products that campuses typically do not have for serious requirements in the case of an outbreak.
Perhaps your campus is already taking measures such as the ones above. If not, we hope these examples may help with your own campus operations during this time. Stay safe, stay healthy.
Hangry provides campuses with a cross-functional, branded mobile app that includes modules for: food ordering, dietary filtering, nutrition tracking, campus-wide loyalty & rewards, rich-push marketing, announcements, surveys, and feedback. Built by us, driven by you, trusted by your users.
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