Update March 16th: In light of Somerville’s expanded state of emergency declaration, we have decided to close FLOAT at least through the end of the month. We will reassess at that time, taking into account CDC and City advice. If your appointment was canceled, we hope you’ll consider leaving your float credit on file with us and rescheduling. If you had an appointment on our calendar between now and the end of March, we’ll give you a call as soon as we have plans to come back.
Keep an eye on our facebook, twitter, or Instagram while you’re practicing your social distancing – we’ll keep posting. Thank you so much for your support! Stay healthy. 🙂
Original post, March 9th: I know the worry of contagion is on peoples’ minds right now. I wanted to tell you about some of the hygiene measures we already use at FLOAT Boston and how we’re going to strengthen them, as well as share some information that I hope you’ll find useful. Remember that we already deal with the possibility of cold and influenza infection daily, and the best way to protect yourself and others is one of the simplest: wash your hands.
At FLOAT, our daily cleaning includes wiping down every “touch point” in the space with alcohol. (It’s a standalone task in our project management system and must be marked “complete” every day.) Touch points are just what they sound like, the places where many hands will land: doorknobs, drawer pulls, light switches, handles. Additionally, at the beginning of each shift there is a task to wipe down the front desk keyboard, phone, and mouse. We deep clean the space every Wednesday morning, and clean the rooms in between each user.
- We will increase touch point wipedowns to every two hours until the end of the season. That covers what we call a “changeover” and represents a new group of people.
- We’ve also added a bottle of hand sanitizer to the front desk.
We’re a small group, and our collective health is the health of our business, quite literally. All of us getting sick at once would be a bad thing! We take hygiene seriously, both to protect you and to protect ourselves.
If you have flu-like symptoms, or have been in direct contact with someone exhibiting flu-like symptoms, please stay home until you’re feeling better. Floating is no fun when you’re coughing and sneezing anyway. While we’re on the subject, please take a moment to review our cancellation policy.
For up-to-date information, please refer to these sites:
- City of Somerville: https://www.somervillema.gov/departments/programs/novel-coronavirus-preparedness-and-information​
- Offical MA website: https://www.mass.gov/resource/information-on-the-outbreak-of-coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19​
- Federal CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
I’ll leave you with something fun. You may have been told to sing “happy birthday” to yourself as you wash your hands to measure out the recommended twenty seconds. Perhaps a new song is in order? These folks have done all the work for you. (I’ve been on “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Raspberry Beret” myself.)
Stay salty!